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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




THE TRAGEDY OF 

King Richard the third. 

Containing, 
His treacherous Plots againft his brother Clarence: 
the pittiefull murther of his iunocent nephewes : 
histyrannicallvfurpation : with the whole courfe 
ofhisdeteftedlife, and moftdeferued death. 

As ichath bee ne lately A&ed by the 

Right honourable the Lord Chamber- 
lainehisferuants. 




AT LONDON 
Printed by Valentine Sims , for Andrew Wife, 
dwelling in Paules Chuch-yard , at the 
SigneoftheAngell. 



Facsimile of Title-Page, First Quarto 



/ 



4* 



Entered at Stationers' Ham. 



Copyright, 1880 
By HENRY N. HUDSON 



Copyright, 1908 
By KATE W. HUDSON 



Copyright, 1916 
By GINN AND COMPANY 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



6i6.q 




GINN AND COMPANY • PRO- 
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. 



CLA445701 



it 



PREFACE 



The text of this edition of King Richard the Third is 
. based on a collation of the First and Second Quartos, the 
seventeenth century Folios, the Globe edition, the Cam- 
bridge (W. A. Wright) edition of 1891, and that of Delius 
(1882). As compared with the text of the earlier editions 
of Hudson's Shakespeare, it is conservative. Exclusive of 
changes in spelling, punctuation, and stage directions, very 
few emendations by eighteenth century and nineteenth cen- 
tury editors have been adopted ; and these, with the more 
important variations from the First Folio, are indicated in 
the textual notes. These notes are printed immediately 
below the text, so that a reader or student may see at a 
glance the evidence in the case of a disputed reading, and 
have some definite understanding of the reasons for those 
differences in the text of Shakespeare which frequently sur- 
prise and very often annoy. Such an arrangement should 
be of special help in the case of plays so universally read 
and frequently acted, as actors and interpreters seldom agree 
in adhering to one text. A consideration of the more poetical, 
or the more dramatically effective, of two variant readings 
will often lead to rich results in awakening a spirit of dis- 
criminating interpretation and in developing true creative 
criticism. In no sense is this a textual variorum edition. 
The variants given are only those of importance and high 
authority. 



vi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

The spelling and the punctuation of the text are modern, 
except in the case of verb terminations in -ed, which, when 
the e is silent, are printed with the apostrophe in its place. 
This is the general usage in the First Folio. The important 
contractions in the First Folio which may indicate Eliza- 
bethan pronunciation ('i' th" for 'in the,' * slaught'red ' for 
1 slaughter 'd,' for example) are also followed. Modern spelling 
has to a certain extent been adopted in the text variants, 
but the original spelling has been retained wherever its pecu- 
liarities have been the basis for important textual criticism 
and emendation. 

With the exception of the position of the textual variants, 
the plan of this edition is similar to that of the old Hudson 
Shakespeare. It is impossible to specify the various instances 
of revision and rearrangement in the matter of the Introduc- 
tion and the interpretative notes, but the endeavor has been 
to retain all that gave the old edition its unique place and to 
add the results of what seems vital and permanent in later 
inquiry and research. In this edition, as in the volumes of 
the series already published, the chapters entitled Sources, 
Date of Composition, Early Editions, Versification and Diction, 
Dramatic Construction and Development with Analysis by 
Act and Scene, Duration of Action, Historical Connec- 
tions with Genealogical Chart, and Stage History are wholly 
new. In this edition, too, is introduced a chronological chart, 
covering the important events of Shakespeare's life as man 
and as author, and indicating in parallel columns his relation 
to contemporary writers and events. As a guide to read- 
ing clubs and literary societies, there has been inserted a 
Table of the Distribution of Characters in the play, giving 
the acts and scenes in which each character appears and the 



PREFACE vii 

number of lines spoken by each. The index of words and 
phrases has been so arranged as to serve both as a glossary 
and as a guide to the more important grammatical differences 
between Elizabethan and modern English. 

While it is important that the principle of suwn cuique be 
attended to so far as is possible in matters of research and 
scholarship, it is becoming more and more difficult to give 
every man his own in Shakespearian annotation. The amount 
of material accumulated is so great that the identity-origin 
of much important comment and suggestion is either wholly 
lost or so crushed out of shape as to be beyond recognition. 
Instructive significance perhaps attaches to this in editing the 
works of one who quietly made so much of materials gath- 
ered by others. But the list of authorities given on page lv 
will indicate the chief source of much that has gone to enrich 
the value of this edition. 

Especial acknowledgment is here made of the obligations 
to Dr. William Aldis Wright, whose work in the collation 
of Quartos, Folios, and the more important English and 
American editions of Shakespeare has been of so great 
value to all subsequent editors and investigators. The 
Index, Analysis by Act and Scene, Table of Distribution 
of Characters, and Stage History are by Grace A. Turking- 
ton, A. M., of the editorial staff of Ginn and Company, 
who has also done important work in revising the proofs 
of both text and notes. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION 

Page 

I. Sources xi 

Holinshed's Chronicles xi 

Mo re's Richard the Third xii 

Hall's Chronicle xu 

Other Sources xii 

II. Date of Composition xiii 

External Evidence xiii 

Internal Evidence xiv 

III. Early Editions xv 

Quartos xv 

Folios xvi 

Rowe's Editions xviii 

IV. Versification and Diction xviii 

Blank Verse xx 

Alexandrines xxi 

Rhyme xxii 

Prose xxii 

V. Dramatic Construction and Development . . . xxiii 

Analysis by Act and Scene xxv 

VI. Duration of Action xxx 

P. A. Daniel's Time Analysis xxxi 

VII. Historical Connections xxxi 

Genealogical Chart xxxii 

ix 



X THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Page 

VIII. The Characters xxxiv 

Richard xxxiv 

Margaret xliv 

Minor Characters xlvi 

Stanley xlvi 

Lady Anne xlvii 

Elizabeth xlviii 

The Princes xlix 

IX. Stage History xlix 

The Seventeenth Century xlix 

The Eighteenth Century 1 

The Nineteenth Century lii 

Authorities (with Abbreviations) «lv 

Chronological Chart lvi 

Distribution of Characters lx 

THE TEXT 

Act I 3 

Act II 51 

Act III 70 

Act IV 109 

Act V 1 50 

Index of Words and Phrases 175 

FACSIMILES 

Title-Page of First Quarto Frontispiece 

Title-Page of Sixth Quarto xvii 



INTRODUCTION 

Note. In citations from Shakespeare's plays and nondramatic 
poems the numbering has reference to the Globe edition, except in 
the case of this play, where the reference is to this edition. 

I. SOURCES 

Of Shakespeare's ten plays dealing directly with English 
history King Richard the Third is the one which is least 
definitely historical. It is significant that in both Quartos and 
Folios the fact that it is a tragedy rather than a history is 
emphasized on title-page and in running title. To a certain 
degree this is due to the special nature of the theme, which 
in general outline and in some interesting details crudely fore- 
shadows that of Macbeth. It is the story of a tyrant who 
captured a throne by murdering all, young and old, who stood 
in his way, and then was hurled to death on the battlefield 
by an uprising of enraged subjects. 

i. Holinshed' s Chronicles. For the story material in King 
Richard the Third, as for that in all the English history 
plays and Macbeth, Shakespeare went to the Chronicles of 
England, Scotland, and Ireland, of Raphael Holinshed (Holyn- 
shed, Hollingshead, Hollinshead), first published in two folio 
volumes in 1577, and again in 1586-1587, "newlie aug- 
mented and continued." 1 It was doubtless this second edition 

1 In W. G. Boswell- Stone's Shakspere's Holinshed are given all 
the portions of the Chronicles which are of special interest to the 
Shakespeare student. 

xi 



xii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

which Shakespeare used, for he has repeated an error 1 due 
to a misprint which does not appear in the first edition. 

2. Mare's Richard the Third. Holinshed based the part 
of his narrative reproduced in King Richard the Third on 
Sir Thomas More's The History of Kmg Richard the thirde, 
published in 1557 by William Rastell (Rastall), a relative 
of More. There is at hand no evidence that Shakespeare 
went directly to More's work for any of his facts, yet it has 
" an interest of its own in connection with Richard III. For 
the materials used in compiling it were in all probability sup- 
plied to the writer by Cardinal Morton, in whose household 
More lived when he was a young man, and who appears in 
our play as Bishop of Ely. If we remember that Morton 
was a pronounced Lancastrian, and that he took an active 
part in the intrigues that preceded Richmond's invasion, we 
shall have little difficulty in understanding why tradition 
has painted Richard Crookback in such sombre colours." 
— Macdonald. 

3. Hall's Chronicle. For some of his details Shakespeare 
drew from The Union of the Noble and Illustre Famclies of 
Lancastre and York, by Edward Hall (Halle), published in 
1542. But for the most part Shakespeare's indebtedness to 
Hall is indirect. 

4. Other Sources. Among the plays on the subject of 
Richard the Third in existence at the time Shakespeare 
wrote his tragedy, two have been frequently mentioned in con- 
nection with his source material. These are the Latin play, 
Ricardus Tertius, and The True Tragedie of Richard the Third. 
The former was a chronicle play written by Dr. Thomas 

1 See note, V, iii, 324. 



INTRODUCTION xin 

Legge for performance at the University of Cambridge (be- 
fore 1583), and while this helped to create an interest in the 
traditional history of Richard, there is no reason to suppose 
that it was known to Shakespeare. The True Tragedie was 
printed in 1594 but had probably been written and acted 
much earlier. Diligent research has brought to light no 
evidence that Shakespeare had either read this play or 
seen it acted. 

II. DATE OF COMPOSITION 

The date of composition of King Richard the Third falls 
within 1597, the later time limit {terminus ante quern), and 
1592, the earlier time limit {terminus post quern). The 
weight of evidence is in favor of 1 592-1 593. 

External Evidence 

King Richard the Third is mentioned by Francis Meres 
in the Palladis Tamia, Wits Treasury; being the Second 
Part of Wits Commonwealth} published in 1598. But the 
earliest direct evidence as to the time of composition is the 
entry in The Stationers'' Registers which is under the date 
October 20, 1597. Although the title-page of the First 
Quarto states that the play had been " lately Acted by . . . 
the Lord Chamberlaine his seruants," this serves only to 
carry back the date of composition to 1596, since the com- 
pany's patron, Lord Hunsdon, did not become Lord Cham- 
berlain until April 17, 1597. Another link is furnished by 

1 Here Meres gives a list of twelve noteworthy Shakespeare 
plays in existence at that time, and refers to M Richard the 2, Richard 
the j, Henry the 4, King John." 



xiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Weever's sonnet, " Ad Gulielmum Shakespeare," in which 
occurs a possible allusion to the play : 

Romeo, Richard, more, whose names I know not, 
Their sugared tongues, and power attractive beauty 

Say they are saints, although that saints they show not, 
For thousands vow to them subjective duty. 

This sonnet was published in 1599 in a collection entitled 
Epigrammes in the oldest cut, and newest fashion, but most 
of the sonnets were written at least as early as 1596. 
Although the Richard here referred to is presumably Richard 
the Third, this slender bit of evidence would not establish a 
date of authorship for the play earlier than 1595 or 1596. 

It has been supposed that the anonymous drama, The 
True Tragedie of Richard the Third, published in 1594 and 
acted by " the Queenes Maiesties Players," was a play 
written much earlier and republished because of the popu- 
larity of Shakespeare's play. On the other hand, some 
critics have contended that the publication of the old play 
in 1594 was due to the enterprise of the publishers, who had 
learned that Shakespeare was preparing a play on the same 
subject. There is, after all, no indisputable external evidence 
supporting a date earlier than 1 595-1 596. 

Internal Evidence 

A careful study of the play itself, especially of the early 
Quartos, shows unmistakably that the author was in that 
stage of his literary development which produced the three 
parts of King Henry the Sixth. The diction of King Richard 
the Third, the quality of the blank verse, the proportion of 
rhyme, the rhetorical quality of the play as a whole, the 



INTRODUCTION xv 

tendency to stichomythia in the dialogue, 1 with the prevalence 
of strained conceits, antitheses, and artificial terms of ex- 
pression (see below, Versification and Diction), argue strongly 
for an earlier period of workmanship than that of King 
Richa?'d the Second. 

An important factor in determining the date of composi- 
tion of King Richard the Third is the unmistakable evidence 
in the play of the influence of Marlowe, which is not felt 
in King Richard the Second. Gollancz admirably sums up 
what he calls the " noteworthy Marlowan characteristics " 
as follows: "(i) Richard, like Tamburlaine, or Faustus, 
or Barabas, monopolises the whole action of the Drama ; 
(2) the characters of this play of passion seem intended, 
for the most part, merely to set off the hero's ' ideal vil- 
lainy ' ; (3) the absence of evolution of character in the 
hero ; (4) the hero's consciousness and avowal of his villainy ; 

(5) the tone of the play is often lyrical or epical rather than 
dramatic (e.g. the lamentation of the women, II, ii ; IV, i 2 ) ; 

(6) blank verse is used throughout, while prose and the lyri- 
cal forms found in the earlier plays are conspicuously absent." 



III. EARLY EDITIONS 

Quartos 

King Richard the Third was entered in The Stationers' 
Registers at London, October 20, 1597, and was published 
anonymously the same year with the title-page which is 
reproduced in facsimile as the frontispiece of this volume. 

1 See note, IV, iv, 211. 

2 See note, IV, iv, 1. 



xvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

This is known as the First Quarto edition, referred to in the 
textual notes of this edition as Q r 

More editions of this play were printed before 1640 than 
of any other Shakespeare play. In 1598 the same text was 
issued again in quarto form with " By William Shake-speare " 
on the title-page. This is known as the Second Quarto, Q . 
The Third Quarto, Q 3 (1602), the Fourth Quarto, Q 4 (1605), 
the Fifth Quarto, Q 5 (16 12), the Sixth Quarto, Q 6 (1622), 
differ from each other only in unimportant details, each 
printing being based upon the preceding one. The Sixth 
Quarto, the title-page of which is given in facsimile on page 
xvii, is the rarest of all the Quartos, only one copy now 
being in existence. The Seventh Quarto, Q 7 (1629), was 
reprinted from Q^ and not from the First Folio as might 
have been expected, while the Eighth Quarto, Q g (1634), is 
a mere reprint of Q 7 without a bookseller's name. 

Folios 

King Richard the Third appeared in the First Folio, F 1? 
published in 1623, with the title The Tragedy of Richard 
the Third : with the Landing of Earle Richmo?id, and the 
Battel I at Bosworth Field. It occupies pages 173 to 204 
in the division of the book devoted to the ' Histories,' which 
are arranged in historical sequence from The life and death 
of King Lohn to The Famous History of the Life of King 
Henry the Eight. The First Folio is the famous volume 
in which all Shakespeare's collected plays (with the excep- 
tion of Pericles, first printed in the Third Folio) were first 
given to the world. The text of the play as it appears in 
this edition differs widely from the Quarto readings, and is 
supposed to have been an independent version. More has 



TRAGEDIE 

F 

KING RICHARD 

THE THIUp. 
Contayning his treacherous Plots againft 

h it brother Clarence: Thephtifull murder of his innocent 
Nephewes : his tyrannicall Vfurpation : with the whole 
courfeothis detefted life, andmoft 

deferued death. 

Asit hath b een lately A&ed by the Kings Maieities 

Seruants. 

Newly augmented. 
By William Shake-jpeate. 




LONDON, 
Printedby Thomas Purfoot.znd are to be fold by CMathew £*#,dwellmg 
IniWrChurch-yard, at the Signe of the Foxcneete 
&«•/*/?/«« gate, l6zz. 

Facsimile of Title-Page, Sixth Quarto 



xviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

been written on the authenticity of the different texts than 
in the case of any other Shakespeare play except Hamlet, 
and widely divergent conclusions as to the relative values of 
the First Quarto and the First Folio have been reached. 
Inasmuch as each of these texts has passages essential to 
the play, only an edition which is based on a careful colla- 
tion of both could in any sense be truly representative of 
Shakespeare. 

The Second Folio, F 2 (1632), the Third Folio, F 3 (1663, 
1664), and the Fourth Folio, F 4 (1685), show few variants 
in the text, and none of importance. 

Rowe's Editions 

The first critical editor of Shakespeare's plays was Nicholas 
Rowe, poet laureate to George I. His first edition was issued 
in 1709 in six octavo volumes. In this edition Rowe, an ex- 
perienced playwright, marked the entrances and exits of the 
characters and introduced many stage directions. He also 
introduced the list of dramatis personae which has been made 
the basis for all later lists. A second edition in eight volumes 
was published, in 171 4. Rowe followed very closely the text 
of the Fourth Folio, but modernized spelling, punctuation, 
and occasionally grammar. 

IV. VERSIFICATION AND DICTION 

The workmanship of King Richard the Third, with the 
exception of certain scenes and passages, is greatly inferior 
to that of Shakespeare's later plays. In many places there 
is an overstudied roundness of diction and regularity of 
movement ; the persons often deliver themselves too much in 



INTRODUCTION xix 

the style of set speeches ; there is at times an artificial 
and bookish tang in the dialogue, and in every scene are 
strains of elaborate jingle made by using the same word in 
different senses. This all suggests that Shakespeare at this 
time wrote more from what he had read in books, or heard 
at the theatre, than from what his quick and apprehensive 
ear had caught of the unwritten drama of actual and possible 
men. It is hard to believe that the author of Hamlet or 
Macbeth could at any time have written such lines as those 
in V, iii, 182-195, which are made up of the forced conceits 
and affectations with which the plays and novels of that 
time were filled. 

On the whole, in King Richard the Third Shakespeare is 
struggling and vibrating between the native impulses of his 
genius and the force of custom and example. It stands to 
reason that he could not have reached his own heights of 
art without first practicing in the ways already approved. 
And this would naturally hold much more in tragedy than 
in comedy, for the elements of comedy had been playing 
freely about his boyhood and mingling in his earliest observa- 
tions. Tragedy, on the other hand, must have been to him 
a much more artificial thing, and he would need both a 
larger measure and a stronger faculty of observation and 
experience, before he could find the elements of it in nature. 
In proportion as he lacked the power to grasp and wield the 
forces of tragedy, he would in his first efforts be mainly 
governed by what stood before him. It is only natural that 
his earlier comedies are so much more Shakespearian in 
style and spirit and characterization than the tragedies of 
the same period. 



XX THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Blank Verse 

The greater part of King Richard the Third is in blank 
verse 1 — the unrhymed, iambic five-stress (decasyllabic) 
verse, or iambic pentameter, introduced into England from 
Italy by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, about 1540, and 
used by him in a translation of the second and fourth books 
of Vergil's sEtieid. Nicholas Grimald {TotteVs Miscellany, 
1557) employed the measure for the first time in English 
original poetry, and its roots began to strike deep into British 
soil and absorb substance. It is peculiarly significant that 
Sackville and Norton should have used it as the measure of 
Gorboduc, the first English tragedy (performed by " the 
Gentlemen of the Inner Temple" on January 18, 1561, 
and first printed in 1565). About the time when Shake- 
speare arrived in London the infinite possibilities of blank 
verse as a vehicle for dramatic poetry and passion were being 
shown by Kyd, and above all by Marlowe. Blank verse as 
used by Shakespeare is really an epitome of the development 
of the measure in connection with the English drama. In 
his earlier plays the blank verse is often similar to that of 
Goi'boduc. The tendency is to adhere to the syllable-counting 
principle, to make the line the unit, the sentence and phrase 
coinciding with the line (end-stopped verse), and to use five 
perfect iambic feet to the line. In plays of the middle 
period, such as The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It, 

1 The term ' blank verse ' was just coming into use in Shake- 
speare's day. It seems to have been used for the first time in litera- 
ture in Nash's Preface to Greene's Menapho?t, where we find 
the expression, "the swelling bumbast of bragging blanke verse." 
Shakespeare uses the expression three times, always humorously 
or satirically. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

written between 1596 and 1600, the blank verse is more 
like that of Kyd and Marlowe, with less monotonous regu- 
larity in the structure and an increasing tendency to carry 
on the sense from one line to another without a syntactical 
or rhetorical pause at the end of the line (run-on verse, en- 
jambemenf). Redundant syllables now abound, and the 
melody is richer and fuller. In Shakespeare's later plays 
the blank verse breaks away from bondage to formal line 
limits, and sweeps all along with it in freedom, power, and 
organic unity. 

In the 3374 lines of blank verse in King Richard the 
Third are found stress modifications of all kinds. There are 
570 feminine (or double) endings and 4 light endings. In 
King Richard the Third are no weak endings. Light end- 
ings and weak endings 1 are found most abundantly in 
Shakespeare's very latest plays. 

Alexandrines 
While French prosodists apply the term ' Alexandrine ' 
only to a twelve-syllable line with the pause after the sixth 
syllable, it is generally used in English to designate iambic 
six-stress verse, or iambic hexameter. This was a favorite 
Elizabethan measure, and it was common in moral plays 
and the earlier heroic drama. English literature has no 
finer examples of this verse than the last line of each stanza 
of The Faerie Quee?ie. In King Richard the Third are about 
16 Alexandrines. 

1 Light endings, as defined by Ingram, are such words as am, can, 
do, has, I, thou, etc., on which " the voice can to a certain small ex- 
tent dwell"; weak endings are words like and, for, from, if, in, of 
or, which "we are forced to run . . . into the closest connection with 
the opening words of the succeeding line." 



xxii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Rhyme 

A progress from more to less rhyme in the regular dia- 
logue is a sure index to Shakespeare's development as a 
dramatist and a master of expression. In the early Love's 
Labour's Lost are more than iooo rhyming five-stress iambic 
lines; in King Richard the Second are more than 500; in 
the very late The Winter's Tale there is not one. 1 

King Richard the Third shows the influence of Marlowe 
(whose infrequent use of rhyme is noteworthy) in that it 
has only about 170 lines of rhyming verse. Here the rhyme, 
though not used with complete consistency, is employed 
(1) to mark the close of speeches and scenes, as in I, i, 
161-162 ; IV, iv, 194-195 ; (2) to point an epigram, as in 
IV, iv, 15-16 ; and (3) to aid in expressing strong emotion, 
as in IV, iv, 209-210. 

Prose 

In the development of the English drama the use of prose 
as a vehicle of expression entitled to equal rights with verse 
was due to Lyly. He was the first to use prose with power 
and distinction in original plays, and did memorable service 
in preparing the way for Shakespeare's achievement. Inter- 
esting attempts have been made to explain Shakespeare's 
distinctive use of verse and prose ; and of recent years there 
has been much discussion of the question " whether we are 
justified in supposing that Shakespeare was guided by any 
fixed principle in his employment of verse and prose, or 
whether he merely employed them, as fancy suggested, for 

1 The Chorus speech introducing Act IV is excepted as not part 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

the sake of variety and relief." 1 In many of his earlier 
plays there is little or no prose, and the proportion of prose 
to blank verse increases with the decrease of rhyme. In 
King Richard the Third are only about 50 prose lines, and 
these are spoken by the murderers. It is interesting to note 
that in this early play Shakespeare anticipates what in his 
maturity became his usual practice of making the characters 
of low life speak prose. 

V. DRAMATIC CONSTRUCTION AND 
DEVELOPMENT 

The character of Richard is the key to the dramatic 
structure of the play. The form and scope of his individu- 
ality is such that other men's cannot stand in subordination 
to it, but must crush it, or fly from it, or be absorbed into 
it ; and the moment any one goes to showing himself other 
than an organ of Richard's will, there is a virtual declara- 
tion of war between them, and the issue must hang on a 
trial of strength or of stratagem. Properly speaking there is 
no interaction between Richard and the other persons of the 
drama. He is the all-in-all of every scene. What differen- 
tiates the play from Shakespeare's other dramas is that the 
entire action, in all its parts and stages — so far, at least, as 
it has any human origin and purpose — not only springs from 
the hero as its source but finds in him its end. The result is 

1 Professor J. Churton Collins, Shakespeare as a Prose Writer. 
See Delius, Die Prosa in Shakespeares Dramen {Shakespeare Jahr- 
buch, V, 227-273) ; Janssen, Die Prosa in Shakespeares Dramen ; 
Professor Hiram Corson, An Introduction to the Study of Shake- 
speare, pages 83-98. 



xxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

that the play is not so much a composition of cooperative 
characters, mutually developing and developed, as the pro- 
longed yet hurried outcome of a single character, to which 
the other persons serve but as exponents and conductors. 
The Richard of the play, like a volume of electricity, discloses 
himself by means of others, and quenches their active powers 
in the very process of doing so. The most considerable ex- 
ception to this is Queen Margaret, whose individuality asserts 
itself face to face with Richard's, her passionate impulse 
wrestling evenly with his deliberate purpose, and her fero- 
cious temper being provoked to larger and hotter eruptions 
by all attempts at restraint or intimidation. 1 

Both tragedy and comedy deal with a conflict between an 
individual force (which may be centered either in one char- 
acter or in a group of characters acting as one) and environ- 
ing circumstances. In tragedy the individual (one person or a 
group) is overwhelmed ; in comedy the individual triumphs. 
In tragedy, as in comedy, five stages may be noted in the plot 
development: (i) the exposition, or introduction; (2) the 
complication, rising action, or growth ; (3) the climax, crisis, 
or turning point ; (4) the resolution, falling action, or conse- 
quence ; and (5) the denouement, catastrophe, 2 or conclu- 
sion. Let it not be thought for a moment that each of these 
stages is clearly differentiated. As a rule they pass insensibly 
into each other, as they do in life. 

1 Yet " we only see this wild, half-maniacal, old woman impotently 
cursing, or triumphing in the just retribution of a too-patient Provi- 
dence, but playing no active part in bringing about that retribution." 
— Marshall. 

^"Catastrophe — the change or revolution which produces the 
conclusion or final event of a dramatic piece." — Johnson. 



INTRODUCTION XXV 

Analysis by Act and Scene 1 
I. The Exposition, or Introduction (Tying of the Knot) 

Act /, Scene i. In the soliloquy with which the play opens 
Gloucester (Richard the Third) reveals the baseness of his nature 
and the means by which he expects to achieve his ambition. His 
soliloquy not only shows the character of the complication but sug- 
gests the action, for already his mind is scheming to have Clarence 
and Edward put out of the way that he may marry Lady Anne. The 
almost precipitous fashion in which this scene gives the audience an 
idea of the audacious schemes of Richard makes an atmosphere 
charged with disaster. More than is consistent with the rules of 
dramatic art, the audience is made to share the author's knowledge 
of impending events. In the last lines, however, Richard's words 
suggest that much lies between his plans and their execution, the 
implication being that succeeding scenes will unfold still other plots: 

But yet I run before my horse to market : 

Clarence still breathes ; Edward still lives and reigns : 

When they are gone, then must I count my gains. 

II. The Complication, Rising Action, or Growth (Tying of 
the Knot) 

Act f, Scene ii. When Richard confronts Lady Anne as she fol- 
lows the coffin of King Henry, the dramatic complication is begun. 
Little by little Anne yields to the stronger will, and at last shows 
her complete surrender by letting fall the sword with which she 
might have taken Richard's life. So brazen is Richard's wooing 
that it has required all the skill of the dramatist so to fashion his 
speech that the audience could be led to forget the hero's effrontery 
in a realization of his tremendous power. Both this scene and that 
which opens the play end with strong soliloquies by the protagonist. 

1 " It must be understood that a play can be analyzed into very 
different schemes of plot. It must not be thought that one of these 
schemes is right and the rest wrong ; but the schemes will be better 
or worse in proportion as — while of course representing correctly 
the facts of the play — they bring out more or less of what ministers 
to our sense of design." — Moulton. 



xxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Act I, Scene iii. This scene takes up many threads of the larger 
scheme of Shakespeare's series of historical plays. Queen Mar- 
garet, Queen Elizabeth and her children, Hastings, Buckingham, 
and Richard all are seen as puppets in the drama of retribution 
which is being enacted slowly but tremendously in the Wars of the 
Roses. This scene also serves to introduce these characters for the 
minor parts which they are to play in the life and death of Richard. 

Act I, Scene iv. Again the dramatic purpose of the series of his- 
torical plays is made strangely vivid to the audience. In the murder 
of Clarence by Richard's hirelings, not only is the complication of 
the drama of Richard's life tightened but the certain progress of 
retribution in the affairs of men and nations is revealed. Clarence, 
whose own hands are stained with blood, gives up his life to those 
whose bloody deeds win them their livelihood. Subtly Shakespeare 
so weaves the scene that the audience feels it is only a matter of 
time when Richard also must pay the penalty for his crimes. That 
which intensifies the villainy of Richard is the remorse that stays 
the knife of one of the murderers, for such a feeling at no time 
finds a place in Richard's heart. 

Act II, Scene i. In Elizabeth's request that Clarence be freed, 
and in Richard's answer (lines 78-79) — 

Who knows not that the gentle duke is dead ? 
You do him injury who scorn his corse — 

Richard's skill in villainy is shown to be no greater than his quick- 
ness to turn suspicion upon others. Thus the complication grows 
and the action is forwarded. 

Act II, Scene it. Here is one of the many instances where Shake- 
speare makes effective dramatic, use of children as foils to their 
scheming elders. The intrigue gathers additional force through the 
boldness with which Richard confronts the queen upon her hus- 
band's death, then hastens to Ludlow where the Prince is detained. 
In the conversation between Buckingham and Richard, the audience 
is made aware that already the death of the queen's kinsmen is 
being plotted. 

Act II, Scene iii. This short scene serves to present a contrast 
to the schemes within schemes which are a part of the daily life of 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

nobles and rulers. The brief glimpse of ' the people ' not only re- 
lieves the tension of tragedy already accomplished and tragedy to 
come but prepares the way for the falling action when Richard 
shall be finally routed. Over the whole scene is an atmosphere of 
foreboding and gloom. 

Act II, Scene iv. In the arrest of Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan the 
dastardly plans of Richard are being carried out and the action 
is forwarded. 

Act III, Scene i. A dramatic contrast is effected by means of the 
conversation between the young Prince, who has come to London 
to await his coronation, and the scheming Buckingham and Richard. 
The courage and keenness of the boy are the more compelling 
because they are matched against the cunning and villainy of his 
elders. In the 'asides' of Richard and in his suggestion that the 
two Princes remain in the Tower for a few days, the impending 
tragedy is anticipated. The audience is aroused to a high pitch 
of emotional suspense, for at every point the part which the boys 
play in the drama is such as to arouse the fullest sympathy. The 
suspense is relieved somewhat by the further planning of Bucking- 
ham, Catesby, and Richard as to the exact means by which Richard 
shall gain the throne. 

Act III, Scene ii. In contrast to the hardened character of 
Richard, in which no elements of weakness are discovered, Hastings 
is here revealed as both weak and wicked. His conceit and over- 
confidence in his own strength prove to be the real cause of his 
ultimate failure, and something of this phase of the complication 
is now made known to the audience. The subtlety and hypocrisy 
of Catesby are recognized as characteristic of a tool of Richard, for 
these qualities seem successfully to dominate, either directly or 
indirectly, the lives of all who cross Richard's path. 

Act III, Scene Hi. This short scene forecasts the fate of Richard, 
for as Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan go to their death they are re- 
minded of Margaret's curses and that she cursed not only them but 
Hastings, Buckingham, and Richard as well (lines 17-19) : 

Then curs'd she Richard, then curs'd she Buckingham, 
Then curs'd she Hastings. O, remember, God, 
To hear her prayers for them, as now for us ! 



xxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Act III, Scene iv. Again Hastings is seen to be so wrapped about 
in his self-confidence that he perceives nothing of the danger that 
threatens him. The audience, still under the spell of dread at the 
fate awaiting the young Prince, scarcely realizes what the lines of 
this scene portend until the words "Off with his head! " show with 
what swiftness the action, marked by a series of murders, proceeds. 

Act III, Scene v. The action halts only to allow Richard the oppor- 
tunity to explain the necessity for Hastings's death ; but there is little 
in his words to win the sympathy of the audience, which has already 
been alienated by the insanity of his ambition. In Richard's inten- 
tion "to draw the brats of Clarence out of sight" another phase of 
the complication earlier anticipated comes more clearly into view. 

Act III, Scene vi. The piling up of murder on murder and plot 
on plot in preceding scenes has been almost beyond the power of 
an audience to comprehend. This short scene of fourteen lines 
helps to give that relief to pent-up emotion which the commonplace 
always affords, and provides an interval for Buckingham's Guildhall 
speech in behalf of Richard's aspirations to the throne. 

Act III, Scene vii. Since all the action of the drama revolves 
about Richard, it is not strange that this scene should be given to 
depicting Richard the dissembler. When he adds to his long list 
of crimes that of feigning deep piety and religious humility, the 
feelings of the audience are so outraged that they almost demand 
the hastening of Richard's fate ; yet both audience and dramatis 
personam are for a moment carried out of their hatred by the enthu- 
siasm aroused by the cry " Long live Richard, England's royal king! " 
Each succeeding event shows that Richard will stop at nothing to 
gain his end, and thus the complication is gradually tightened. 

Act IV, Scene i. The meeting of Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of 
Gloucester, the Duchess of York, Anne, and Lady Margaret serves 
to heighten the aspect of tragedy. These minor characters are used 
only to show how futile are piety and affection when in conflict with 
the unscrupulous ambition of a man like Richard. 

III. The Climax, Crisis, or Turning Point (the Knot Tied) 

Act IV, Scene ii, lines 1-26. In Richard's admitted desire for the 
death of his two young nephews, which brings the first show of 



INTRODUCTION xxix 

reluctance on the part of Buckingham to act the easy tool of villainy, 
the climax is reached. For the first time since Richard's over- 
reaching ambition was revealed, a definite suggestion is given that 
an end to his evil deeds is inevitable. 

IV. The Resolution, Falling Action, or Consequence (the 
Untying of the Knot) 

Act IV, Scene ii, lines 27-124, Hi. The falling action, begun in 
Buckingham's alienation from Richard, is continued in the fleeing 
of Ely to Richmond and in the rebellion of Buckingham at the head 
of a force of hardy Welshmen. 

Act IV, Scene iv. Tantalizing, although dramatic, is the helpless- 
ness of Margaret, Elizabeth, and the Duchess of York to shape in 
any measure their own destinies. But the curses which they pro- 
nounce upon Richard in his presence sound the knell of his final 
defeat. The falling action continues, yet Richard's expressed deter- 
mination to wed Elizabeth's daughter shows that the growing com- 
plication has had no effect on his iron will. His success in forcing 
Elizabeth to do his bidding is offset in some degree by the news 
that Richmond is now " on the seas " and a menace to Richard's 
throne. In the one short sentence, " I will not trust you, sir," spoken 
by Richard to Stanley, we have the first bit of evidence of a real 
fear on the part of Richard as to his ultimate success. When he 
strikes a messenger who he hastily assumes is bringing ill tidings, 
the audience realizes the disintegration of his powers and the rapid 
course of the falling action. Up to this point, Richard has dealt 
with others wholly through his powerful intellect. His use of petty 
force to vent his displeasure shows how disturbing are the voices 
within him. 

Act IV, Scene v. The difficult part that Stanley had to play in the 
intrigues of the time reminds the audience of the bigger, broader 
drama of English history. In helping to bring about the espousal 
of Elizabeth's daughter to Richard, Stanley seems to be strangely 
constant in his allegiance to the king. 

Act V, Scene i. The execution of Buckingham halts the falling 
action and for a moment makes the audience wonder if retribution 
will after all fail to reach Richard. 



xxx THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Act V, Scene ii. The appearance of Richmond as one of the 
dramatis personae is the preamble to the final catastrophe. 

Act V, Scene Hi. Richard and Richmond, each at the head of an 
armed force, confront each other ready for battle. By the device 
of a ghost scene, wherein the spirits of the victims of Richard's 
ambition appear to him, the final catastrophe is approached. The 
cry that is wrung from Richard in lines 200-201 — 

I shall despair. There is no creature loves me ; 
And, if I die, no soul will pity me — 

finds no answering sympathy in the hearts of the audience. Most 
effective as a bit of drama is this picturing of the pitiless, unimagi- 
native Richard confounded by the ghosts of a dream. 

V. Denouement, Catastrophe, or Conclusion (the Knot Untied) 

Act V, Scenes iv and v. In Richard's frantic cry "A horse! a horse! 
my kingdom for a horse ! " is sounded the defeat of the king and his 
forces. It is in keeping with Shakespeare's treatment throughout 
that Richard should be killed on the stage, In the final words of the 
victor, we are again reminded of the part that this drama plays in 
the bigger drama of English history : 

We will unite the white rose and the red. 
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction, 
That long have frown'd upon their enmity ! 



Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again ; 
That she may long live here, God say amen ! 

VI. DURATION OF ACTION 

1. Historic Time. A period of a little more than fourteen 
years, from the burial of Henry VI, 1 May, 1471, to the 

1 P. A. Daniel calls attention {New Shakspere Society Transactions, 
1877-1879, page 325) to the close connection, in point of dramatic 
time, of King Richard the Third and the third part of King Henry 
the Sixth : " The connection ... is singularly elastic : not a single 
day intervenes, yet years must be supposed to have elapsed. The 
murder of Henry VI is but two days old." 



INTRODUCTION xxxi 

battle of Bosworth Field, August 22, 1485, is covered by 
this play. 

2. Dramatic Time. As represented on the stage the time 
of the play is from eleven to twelve days, with intervals the 
length of which it seems impossible and unnecessary to 
determine with exactness. 

The following is P. A. Daniel's time analysis : 1 

Day 1. — I, i, ii. 

Interval. 
Day 2. — I, iii, iv ; II, i, ii. 
Day 3. — II, iii. 

Interval. 
Day 4. — II, iv. 
Day 5. — Ill, i. 
Day 6. — III, ii-vii. 
Day 7. — IV, i. 
Day 8. — IV, ii-v. 

Interval. 
Day 9. — V, i. 

Interval. 
Day 10. — V, ii, and first half of iii. 
Day 11. — V, last half of iii, iv, v. 

VII. HISTORICAL CONNECTIONS 

The genealogical tables given on pages xxxii-xxxiii indicate 
the inter-relation of the more important historical characters 
in King Richard the Third, and show in what other plays of 
Shakespeare they, their ancestors, or their descendants, either 
are mentioned or appear as dramatis personae. 

1 Netv Shakspere Society Transactions, 1877-1879, pages 325-337. 



HISTORICAL 













Edward III 










1327-1377 










H 5 


1 

Edward 


William Lionel 




Philippa ~ (3) Catharine Swynford = 


the Black 


d. 1335 Duke of Clar- 




Roet (?) 




Prince 


ence 
d. 1369 




Geoffrey 




Duke of 


1 


Aquitaine 


=. 




Chaucer (?) Thomas Ralph Joan 


d. 1376 


(1) Elizabeth 




1 


Beaufort Neville = Beaufort 


Hj 


de Burgh 




Thomas 


Earl of Earl of 




1 




Chaucer 


Dorset West- 


Joan of 


Philippa 




= 


Duke of MORE- 


Kent (I) the 


= 




Matilda 


EXETER LAND 


Fair Maid 


Edmund 




Burghersh 


d. 1425 d. 1425 


1 


Mortimer 


Michael 






H 5 H4 12 Hs 


RICHARD II 


Earl of 


de la Pole 








I377-I399 


March 


Earl of 








R2 


1 


Suffolk 








= 


Anne Morti- 


d. 1415 








(1) Anne of 


mer 


H 5 








Bohemia 


(See descend- 


1 








(2) Isabella. 


ants of Ed- 


(3) William 








of France 


mund Langley 


de la Pole 


= Alice 


= (2) Thomas Montague 


R2 


Duke of York) 


Earl of 

Suffolk 




Earl of Salisbury 
d. 1428 






exc. 1450 
H6i 






H 5 



Signs and Abbreviations in 
the Tables 



Charles de la Bret 

Constable of France 

k.A. 1415 

H 5 



4*" 
d.= 
exc.= 
k.= 
k.A.= 
R 2 = 
R3 = 
H 4 1 = 
H 4 2 = 
H6 ] = 
H6 2 = 
H6 3 = 

u r 

KJ = 



direct descent from 

married to 

brother or sister 

brother or sister of the half blood 

died 
: executed 

killed 
: killed at Agincourt 

one of the dramatis personae in Richard II 
do. Richardlll 

do. / Henry IV 

do. 2 Henry IV 

do. / Henry VI 

do. 2 Henry VI 

do. 3 Henry VI 

do. Henry V 

do. King John 



Italics indicate that the person is only mentioned in 
the play. Numerals in parentheses before a name 
indicate a first, second, or third marriage. Nu- 
merals after a king's name indicate the dates of 
his reign. 



(2) Owen Tudor = 

Edmund Tudor 

I 

Henry Tudor Earl of Richmond 

HENRY VII TUDOR 

1485-1509 

H63R 3 



CONNECTIONS 

= Philippa of Hainault 
d. 1369 



John of 
Gaunt 
J Hike of 
Lancaster 
d. 1399 
R2 

(2) Constance of 

Castile 

(1) Blanche of 

Lancaster 

Chaucer's 

' Duchesse ' ? 

d. 1369 



Edmund Langley =(2) Joan of Kent (II) 



Duke of York 

d. 140 

R2 



» (1) Isabella of 
Castile, d. 1393 



Duchess of York 
R2 

(3) Henry, 3 Baron 

Scrope of Masham 

Lord Scroop 

exc. 1415 

H 5 



Thomas 

Duke of Gloucester 

d. 1397 



Henry 

Bolingbroke 

Earl of Derby 

Duke of Hereford 

Duke of Lancaster 

HENRY IV 

LANCASTER 

1399-1413 

R2 H4 1 - 

(2) Joan of Navarre 

d- 1437 
(i)Maryde Bohun 

d. 1394 



Edward 
Earl of 
Rutland 
Duke of 

AUMERLE 

Duke of 

York 
k.A. 1413 
R2 H; 



Richard 

Earl of 

Cambridge 

exc. 141 5 

H S 

Anne 
Mortimer 

Richard 

Plantagenet 

Duke of 

York 

d. 1460 

H6'23 

I 



Constance 

Thomas 

Despenser 

d. 1400 

Isabella 

Richard 

Beauchamp 

Earl of 

Warwick 

d 1439 

H 5 



I 

EDWARD IV 

1461-1483 

R3 H6 23 

Elisabeth 
R3 



Edmund 

Earl of 

Rutland 

H63 



George 
Duke of 
Clarence 
d. 1479 
H63R 3 



RICHARD III 

1483-1485 
H623 R 3 



Edward of Wales 

EDWARD V 

R3 



Richard 

Duke of York 

R3 



Henry of 

Monmouth 

' Prince Hal' 

Duke of Lancaster 

HENRY V 

1413-1422 

H4H5 

KATHARINE 
OF FRANCE 

Vf 

HENRY VI 

1422-1471 

H6 12 3 



Thomas 

Duke of 

Clarence 

k. 1421 

H4 3 H 5 



John 

Duke of 

Bedford 

Regent of 

France 

d- 1435 

H 4 H S H6i 



Humphrey 
' Good Duke 
Humphrey' 

Duke of 
Gloucester 

d. 1447 
H4 1 H 5 H6 1 * 



xxxiv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

VIII. THE CHARACTERS 
Richard 

In King Richard the Third we have the unfolding of the 
hero's character as already formed, the processes of its 
formation being set forth in the second and third parts of 
King Henry the Sixth. In this case, as in sundry others, 
Shakespeare suggests, at the outset, the pivot on which the 
character mainly turns. When we first meet with Richard in 
the earlier plays Clifford taunts him : 

Hence, heap of wrath, foul indigested lump, 
As crooked in thy manners as thy shape ! 

[2 Henry VI,V,i, 157-158] 

Richard's personal deformity is regarded not only as proceed- 
ing from a certain original malignity of soul but also as 
aggravating that malignity. His ill-looks invite reproach, and 
reproach quickens his malice. Because men hate to look on 
him, he craves all the more to be looked on. Thus experience 
generates in him an inordinate lust of power, while the 
circumstantial impossibility of coming at this save by crime 
turns him to such a course of intellectual training and 
practice as may enable him to commit crimes and still 
avoid the natural consequences. 

His extreme vanity results in a morbid sensitiveness to any 
sign of neglect or scorn. As taunts and scoffs are a form of 
power which he feels most keenly, he therefore grows fond 
of using them to make his power felt, even as evil men natu- 
rally desire to vent upon others the causes and instruments 
of their own sufferings. Hence the bitterly sarcastic humor 
which Richard indulges so freely, and with such prodigious 
effect. Of course his sensitiveness is keenest where his 



INTRODUCTION xxxv 

vanity is most thwarted and wounded. He thinks of nothing 
so much as the ugliness that balks his desire, and resents 
nothing so sharply as the opinion or feeling it arrays against 
him. Accordingly his first and heaviest shots of sarcasm 
are at those who twit him on that score ; thus in the scene 
where the Lancastrian Prince of Wales is killed Richard 
seems unmoved till the Prince taunts him, when his wrath 
takes fire at once and bursts out in the reply, " By heaven, 
brat, I'll plague ye for that word " (j Henry VI, V, v, 27). 

Richard descants on his own deformity because it is the 
sorest spot in his condition. He even becomes intent on 
making it the source of a dearer gratification than any it 
deprives him of — the consciousness of such mental powers 
as can bear him onward and upward in spite of those disad- 
vantages. Thus his sense of personal disgrace begets a most 
hateful and malignant form of pride — the pride of intellectual 
force and mastery. Hence he comes to glory in the matter 
of his shame, to exaggerate it, and hang over it, as serving 
to magnify his strength and fertility of wit. He seems to 
say, Nature indeed made me the reproach and scorn of men, 
nevertheless I have made myself their wonder and applause ; 
and though my body be such that men cannot bear the sight 
of me, yet I have managed to charm their eyes. 

On much the same principle, he develops to the highest 
pitch his consciousness also of moral deformities. So far 
from palliating his wickedness to himself, or skulking behind 
subterfuges, he rather makes love to it, and exults in spread- 
ing it out and turning it around before his inward eye, as if 
he were charmed with the sight. To succeed by wrong, to 
rise by crime, to grow great by inverting the moral order of 
things, is to him the highest proof of genius and skill. The 



xxxvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

worse he sees himself to be, the higher he stands in his own 
esteem. This aspect of the man is fully borne out by such 
a soliloquy as the following : 

Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard ; 

What other pleasure can the world afford ? 

I '11 make my heaven in a lady's lap, 

And deck my body in gay ornaments, 

And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks. 

O miserable thought ! and more unlikely 

Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns ! 

Why, love forswore me in my mother's womb : 

And, for I should not deal in her soft laws, 

She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe, 

To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub ; 

To make an envious mountain on my back, 

Where sits deformity to mock my body ; 

To shape my legs of an unequal size ; 

To disproportion me in every part. 



Then, since this earth affords no joy to me, 
But to command, to check, to o'erbear such 
As are of better person than myself, 
I '11 make my heaven to dream upon the crown, 
And, whiles I live, to account this world but hell, 
Until my mis-shaped trunk that bears this head 
Be round impaled with a glorious crown. 

Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile, 
And cry ' Content ' to that which grieves my heart, 
And wet my cheeks with artificial tears, 
And frame my face to all occasions. 

I can add colours to the chameleon, 
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, 
And set the murderous Machiavel to school. 

[j Henry VI, III, ii, 146-193] 



INTRODUCTION xxxvii 

The constant presence and ever-shifting forms of danger 
have trained Richard into a consummate master of the arts 
of dissembling and simulation ; he can counterfeit brusque- 
ness, meekness, innocence, humility, sorrow, anger, indigna- 
tion, artlessness, and piety ; and can play the blusterer, the 
wag, the boon companion, the penitent, the lover, the devotee, 
the hot partisan, the hearty friend, the cool adviser, and the 
passionate avenger; each in turn, or several of them together, 
as the occasion prompts, or the end requires. 

The moral complexion of Shakespeare's Richard was 
mainly taken from the historians, but his intellectual propor- 
tions are greater than those accorded him by history. To 
have set forth such a moral characterization in dramatic form, 
with only his actual endowment of mind, would scarcely 
counteract the horror of his crimes. Such a measure of 
depravity, stripped of the disguise which it necessarily keeps 
up in real life, might indeed be valuable as truth, but would 
hardly do as poetry. The method of history is to please be- 
cause it instructs ; of art, to instruct because it pleases. No 
man ever understood this better than Shakespeare. Nor, 
perhaps, is his understanding anywhere better shown than 
in King Richard the Third. The lines of Richard's wickedness 
as traced in history are somewhat deepened in the play, and 
its features are charged with boisterous life, making a fearful 
picture, and such as, without counterbalancing attractions, 
would shock and revolt the beholder. As dealt with by 
Shakespeare, Richard's intellectuality is so idealized as to 
relieve the impression of his moral deformity. Richard may 
be all villain, but the hateful in his character is so balanced 
by the admirable that we are more than reconciled to his 
company, though nowise reconciled to his crimes. 



xxxviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

His skill in villainy is well illustrated in his wooing of 
Lady Anne, where the rays of his character are all gathered, 
as it were, into a focus. Whatever may have been the facts 
in the case, it is certain that Richard was at the time gener- 
ally believed by the Lancastrians to have had a hand in the 
murder of both Henry VI and his son Edward. It is also 
certain that within two years after their death Richard was 
married to Edward's widow, who must in all reason be sup- 
posed to have shared in the common belief of her party. 
They revered the king as a martyr, and his tomb as the 
abode of miraculous efficacies, for which cause Richard had 
his bones removed to a more secluded place. Richard's chief 
motive to the marriage probably was that he might have a 
share in the immense estates of Anne's father, Richard 
Neville, the great Earl of Warwick, known in history as 
"the king-maker," and in Shakespeare as "the setter up and 
plucker down of kings " (j Henry VI, II, iii, 37). 

Richard begins and ends his courtship of the lady over 
the very coffin of the royal saint whose death she is mourn- 
ing, and whom he is supposed to have murdered. Yet his 
triumph seems to result not so much from any special vice 
or defect in her as from his witchcraft of tongue and wit. 
It should be remembered in her behalf that his art suc- 
ceeds equally in beguiling King Edward, Clarence, Hastings, 
Buckingham, and others. His towering audacity, which, 
springing from entire confidence in his powers, prevails in 
part by the very boldness of its attempts ; his flexibility and 
suppleness of thought, turning himself indifferently to all 
occasions ; his perfect self-possession and presence of mind, 
never at a loss for a shift, nor betrayed into a misstep, nor 
surprised into a pause; his wily dissimulation, and more wily 



INTRODUCTION xxxix 

frankness, silencing her charges by pleading guilty to them, 
parrying her blows by inviting them, disarming her hatred by 
owning its justice ; his simulating deep contrition for past 
misdeeds, and the inspiration of her virtue and beauty as the 
cause of it — such are the parts of the sly, subtle, unf earing, 
remorseless Richard that are unfolded in his courtship of 
Lady Anne. The scene is indeed far from being the best, or 
even among the best, in the play, but it combines a remark- 
able variety of characteristic points, and happily exemplifies 
Shakespeare's method of diverting attention from the offen- 
siveness of Richard's acts by the entertainment of his gifts. 
In these respects, we have a later repetition of the scene, 
when he triumphs, or seems to triumph, over the fears and 
scruples of Elizabeth. 

Richard's irresistible arts of insinuation, by which he can 
at once, and almost in the same breath, create terrors and 
sweeten them away, is well shown in the brief scene with 
Ratcliff and Catesby, when he is preparing to meet the in- 
vading Richmond (IV, iv, 444-454). Here, by the bland 
apology implied in " O, true, good Catesby," which drops so 
easily that it seems to spring fresh from his heart, he in- 
stantly charms away the sting of his former words, and we 
feel that the bond between them is closer than ever. His 
kingly dignity is not a whit impaired — it is even heightened 
by the act — partly from his graciousness of manner, and 
partly from his quick art in arraying the apology in a sort 
of transparent disguise. 

It should be observed that Richard, with all his inborn 
malignity, does not hate those whom he sends to death or 
ruin. They stand between him and his purpose ; and he has 
" neither pity, love, nor fear," in getting them out of the way. 



xl THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

His malice wantons in biting taunts and caustic irony ; he 
revels in teasing and galling others with bitter mocks and 
jerks ; but he is too self- repressive and too politic to let his 
malice show itself in gratuitous cruelties. A reign of terror 
planted and upheld by a guillotine of malicious wit is as far 
as his ambition and sagacity will permit him to go in that 
direction. Shakespeare could never have conceived of the 
English people as tolerating even for a day a reign of 
terror founded on a guillotine of steel. Richard is prudent 
enough to restrain his innate virulence from attempting so 
suicidal a course as that. His thought seizes with amazing 
quickness and sureness where and when and how to cut. It 
is as if such an excess of life and energy had been rammed 
into his little body as to strain and bulge it out of shape. 

That Richard is a villain who, instead of endeavoring in 
any way to hide from his crimes, rather fondles and caresses 
them as food of intellectual pride, is Coleridge's view : 
" Pride of intellect is the characteristic of Richard carried 
to the extent of even boasting to his own mind of his 
villainy. Shakespeare here develops, in a tone of sublime 
morality, the dreadful consequences of placing the moral 
in subordination to the mere intellectual being." * In this re- 
spect, Richard transcends Shakespeare's other crime heroes, 
Iago and Edmund, who, with all their steeping in hell-venom, 
are still unable to look their hellish purposes steadily in the 
face, and seek refuge in certain imaginary wrongs which 
it is the part of manhood to revenge either on particular 
persons or on society at large. 

It is plain that such a man as Richard must either cease 
to be himself, or else must be himself alone. Isolation, virtual 
1 See Notes and Lecttires tipon Shakespeare. 



INTRODUCTION xli 

or actual, is the necessary condition of his life. One of his 
character, without his position, would have to find solitude ; 
Richard, by his position, has the alternative of creating it. 
His individuality can endure no partner. There is no sharing 
anything with him, even in unequal portions. 

Richard is a skillful dissembler, but is not all hypocrite : 
his courage and his self-control at least are genuine, and his 
strength of will is exerted even more in repressing his own 
nature than in oppressing others. Here it is, perhaps, that 
we have the most admirable feature of the delineation. Such 
a vigor of self-command — the central force of all great 
characters — seldom fails to captivate the judgment, or to 
inspire something like respect ; and when carried to such a 
height as in Richard, it naturally touches common people 
with wonder and awe. Richard strongly resembles Lady 
Macbeth in doing absolute violence to his nature by out- 
wrestling the powers of conscience. In his waking moments 
he never betrays, except in one instance, any sense of guilt, 
any pangs of remorse. But, as in the case of Lady Macbeth, 
his strength of will is evidently overstrained in keeping down 
the insurgent moral forces of his being. This part of his 
nature asserts itself in his sleep, when his powers of self- 
repression are suspended. Then his involuntary forces rise 
in insurrection against the despotism of his will. In his speech 
to the army near the close, he describes conscience as " a 
word that cowards use, devis'd at first to keep the strong 
in awe " (V, iii, 309-310) ; and this well shows how hard he 
strives to hide from others, and even from himself, the work- 
ings of that inward force. But the dreams which infest his 
pillow and plague his slumbers, and which are disclosed to 
us by Lady Anne, are a conclusive record of the torturing 



xlii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

thoughts that have long been harrowing his soul, and of the 
extreme violence his nature has suffered from the tyranny of 
will in repressing all outward signs of the work of conscience. 
That his conscience in sleep should thus rouse itself and act 
the fury in his soul, to avenge the wrongs of his terrible self- 
despotism when awake — this more than anything else vin- 
dicates his partnership in humanity, and keeps him within 
the circle of our human sympathies. 

Richard's inexorable tenacity of purpose and his over- 
bearing self-mastery have their strongest display in the catas- 
trophe. He makes his death serve the end for which he has 
lived. He may even be said to compel his own death, when 
a higher power than man's has cut off all other means of 
honour and triumph. Although Shakespeare here followed 
English history, in the prerogatives of his art he found a 
way which history knows not of to satisfy the moral feel- 
ings. Inaccessible to earthly strokes, this dreadful impunity 
is recompensed in the agonies of an inward hell ; and our 
sense of justice reaps a stern satisfaction in the retributions 
which are rendered vocal by the ghosts that haunt his 
sleeping moments. 

The effect of this vision is best told by Richard himself, 
when he starts from his couch in an ecstasy of fright : 

Give me another horse ! bind up my wounds ! 
Have mercy, Jesu ! — Soft ! I did but dream. 
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me ! 
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. 
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. 



My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, 
And every tongue brings in a several tale, 
And every tale condemns me for a villain. 



INTRODUCTION xliii 



I shall despair. There is no creature loves me ; 
And, if I die, no soul shall pity me. 

Ratcliff. My lord ! 

Richard. Who 's there ? 

Ratcliff. My lord, 't is I. The early village-cock 
Hath twice done salutation to the morn ; 
Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour. 

Richard. O Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful dream. 
What thinkest thou ? will our friends prove all true ? 

Ratcliff. No doubt, my lord. 

Richard. O Ratcliff, I fear, I fear! 

Ratcliff. Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows. 

Richard. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night 
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard 
Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers 
Armed in proof and led by shallow Richmond. 

[V, iii, 177-219] 

Richard's intense, feverish activity of mind and body when 
he is awake springs in part from the gnawings of con- 
science. He endeavors, or rather is impelled, to stifle or 
lose the sense of guilt in a high-pressure stress of thought 
and work. For thus the smothered pangs of remorse often 
act as potent stimulants or irritants of the intellect and will, 
the remorse within burning the fiercer for being repressed, 
and so heating the brain into restless, convulsive activity. 
In this way, the very consciousness of crime may have the 
effect of plunging the subject into further crimes. 

It is through the secret working of this power that Henry's 
prophecy touching Richmond, and also the fortune-teller's 
prediction which made the hero start on seeing the castle 
at Exeter, and hearing it called Rougemont, stick so fast 
in his memory, and sit so heavy on his soul through the 



xliv THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

closing struggle. As Gervinus says, " he who in his realistic 
free-thinking was fain to deny all higher powers, and by his 
hypocrisy to deceive even Heaven itself, succumbs at last to 
their inevitable stroke." 

Margaret 

The introduction of Margaret in this play has no formal 
warrant in history. After the battle of Tewksbury, in 
1 47 1, she was confined in the Tower till 1475, when, being 
ransomed by her father, she went into France, and died 
there in 1482. The part she takes in these scenes is 
dramatic fiction throughout, but a most judicious piece 
of fiction. Her character, like Richard's, has its growth 
and shaping in the earlier plays. Much has been said by 
critics about Shakespeare's Lancastrian prejudices as mani- 
fested in this series of plays. One may well be curious to 
know whether those prejudices are to be held responsible 
for the portrait he gives of Margaret, in whom we find 
nearly all the worst vices of her time. The character, 
however lifelike and striking in its effect, is colored much 
beyond what sober history warrants. She is a bold, ferocious, 
and tempestuous woman, devoid alike of delicacy, of dignity, 
and of discretion, and all the bad passions out of which might 
be engendered the madness of civil war seem to flock and 
hover about her. Her speech and action, however, impart 
a wonderful vigor to the scenes in which she moves ; and 
perhaps it was only by exaggerating her into a sort of repre- 
sentative character that the processes of that long national 
conflict could be developed in a poetic or dramatic form. 
Her penetrating intellect and unrestrainable volubility dis- 
close the motives and principles of the combatant factions. 



INTRODUCTION xlv 

We may regard her as, in some sort, an ideal concentration 
of that murderous ecstasy which seized upon the nation. 
But it should be observed that popular tradition, sprung from 
the reports of Margaret's enemies, and cherished by patriotic 
feeling, had greatly overdrawn the wickedness of Margaret. 

The dramatic character of Margaret, whether at court or 
in the field, is sustained at the same high pitch through all the 
plays in which she figures. Afflictions only open in her new 
founts of embitterment. Her speech is ever teeming with the 
sharp answer that engenders wrath, and out of every wound 
issues the virulence that is sure to provoke another blow. 

In King Richard the Third, Margaret's condition is vastly 
different from that in the earlier plays, but her character re- 
mains the same. She is here stripped of arms and instru- 
ments, so that her thoughts can no longer work out in acts. 
But, for this very cause, her Amazonian energies concentrate 
themselves so much the more in her speech, and her elo- 
quence, while retaining all its strength and fluency, burns 
the deeper since it is the only organ of her mind that she 
has left. In brief, she is still the same high-grown, wide- 
branching tree, now rendered leafless and therefore all the 
fitter for the blasts of heaven to howl and whistle through. 
Long suffering has deepened her fierceness into sublimity. 
At once vindictive and broken-hearted, she is a most impres- 
sive blending of the terrible and the pathetic. Walpole 1 
remarks that in this play Shakespeare " seems to deduce 
the woes of the House of York from the curses which 
Queen Margaret had vented against them." The truth is, 
Margaret's curses do but proclaim the great principle of 

1 Horace Walpole (17 17-1797), Historic Doubts on the Life and 
Reign of King Richard the Third. 



xlvi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

moral retribution, and perhaps the only way her former 
character could be carried on into these scenes was by 
making her seek indemnity for her woes in ringing changes 
upon the woes of others. She is a sort of wailing or ululat- 
ing chorus to the thick-thronging butcheries and agonies that 
wind their course through the play. A great, brave, fearful 
woman indeed, made sacred by all the anguishes that a wife 
and a mother can know ! 

Minor Characters 

Of the other characters in this play probably little need 
be said. Hastings and Buckingham neither get nor de- 
serve pity from us. They have done all they could to 
nurse and prepare the human tiger that finally hunts them 
to death. Their thorough steeping in the wickedness of 
the times, and their reckless participation, either by act 
or by sympathy, in Richard's slaughters, mark them out as 
worthy victims. 

STANLEY 

Stanley gauges the hero rightly from the first, penetrates 
his closest designs, and then adroitly fathers the results of 
his own insight on some current superstition of omens or 
dreams. Without sharing in any of Richard's crimes or 
defiling his hands at all with blood, he turns Richard's 
weapons against him, and fairly beats him at his own game. 
His relationship to Richmond naturally marks him out for 
suspicion. He forecasts this from afar, and with a kind of 
honest knavery so shapes his course that he can easily parry 
or dodge or quiet the suspicion when it comes. With clean 
purposes, he dissembles them as completely as Richard does 



INTRODUCTION xlvii 

his foul designs. He is in secret correspondence with Rich- 
mond all along, yet carries it so that no suggestion of it gets 
abroad. His art takes on the garb of perfect frankness, 
candor, and simplicity, which is art indeed. He counsels 
Dorset to speed his flight to Richmond, gives him letters, 
then goes straight to Richard, and tells him Dorset has 
fled. He is also the first to inform Richard that " Richmond 
is on the seas," and that " he makes for England, here to 
claim the crown " (IV, iv, 469). By this timely speaking of 
what is true, but what he would naturally be least expected 
to disclose, he makes a passage for the full-grown deceit 
which he is presently forced to use. But he justly holds it a 
work of honesty to deceive such an arch-deceiver in such a 
cause. His patriotism and rectitude of purpose are amply 
shown when the crisis comes, in his staking what is dearest 
to him for the deliverance of his country from the tyrant. 
This was a good beginning for the noble and illustrious 
House of Stanley, which has in all ages since stood true 
alike to loyalty and liberty. 

LADY ANNE 

The parts of Lady Anne, Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, 
and the two young Princes, are skilfully managed so as to 
diversify and relieve what would otherwise be a prolonged 
monotony of atrocious wickedness and intellectualism. The 
change from the society of such consummate hypocrisies 
and villainies to that of heartrending sorrow is a distinct 
relief. 

Lady Anne's seeming levity in yielding to the flatteries 
of the wooing homicide is readily forgiven in the sore 
burden of grief which it entails upon her, in her subdued 



xlviii THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

gentleness to other destined victims, and in the sad resigna- 
tion with which she forecasts the bitterness of her brief fu- 
ture. Her nature is felt to be all too soft to stand against 
the crafty and merciless tormentor into whose hand she 
has given herself. 

ELIZABETH 

Elizabeth is prudent, motherly, and pitiful, but by no 
means lacking in strength and spirit. Stanley, Margaret, and 
the Duchess excepted, she is the only person in the play who 
reads correctly the hero's character. From the slaughter of 
her kindred at Pomfret, her instinctive feminine sagacity 
gathers at once the whole scheme of what is coming, and 
anticipates the utter ruin of her House. But she is so en- 
meshed by intriguing arts, and, what is still worse, so beset 
with the friendly assurances of minds less penetrating than 
hers, that all her defences prove of no avail. It was both 
wise and kind in Shakespeare to represent her so untuned to 
the language of imprecation, that she has to call on one so 
eloquent in curses as Margaret to do her cursing for her. 
In the scene where Richard sues so persistently for her 
daughter's hand, it appears somewhat uncertain whether 
she is really beguiled and won by his wizard rhetoric, or 
whether she only temporizes, and feigns a reluctant acqui- 
escence, thus at last fairly outwitting him. Since her daugh- 
ter's hand is already firmly pledged to Richmond, and she is 
in the whole secret of the plot for seating him on the throne, 
it seems to be an instance of that profound yet innocent and 
almost unconscious guile which women are apt to use in 
defence of those they love, and which so often proves an 
overmatch for all the resources of deliberate craft. 



INTRODUCTION xlix 

THE PRINCES 

The two Princes are admirably discriminated. The elder is 
inquisitive, thoughtful, cautious in his words, hardly knowing 
whether or not to fear his uncle, and, with a fine instinctive 
tact, veiling his doubt under ambiguities. The younger is 
pert, precocious, and clever, and prattles out his keen 
childish wit, in perfect freedom from apprehension, and quite 
innocent of the stings it carries. Their guileless intelligence 
and sweet trustfulness of disposition make a capital foil to 
the subtlety and virulent intellectuality of Richard. 

IX. STAGE HISTORY 

The centering of the action in one person goes far toward 
explaining the great and lasting popularity of this play on the 
stage. It is a hero play, and there being no one to share with 
the hero in the action and interest, the drama is all the bet- 
ter for theatrical starring. Naturally most of the great actors 
have been eager to appear in it, and play-goers to see them in 
it. Besides, the hero is himself essentially an actor, though an 
actor of many parts, sometimes acting one after another, and 
sometimes several of them together. The fact that much of 
his character is assumed, and carried through as a matter of art, 
probably makes it somewhat easier for another to assume it. 

The Seventeenth Century 

Unfortunately there is little definite information as to the 
stage history of King Richard the Third from the time 
of its publication up to 1630. That the play was acted before 
its publication is indicated by the title-page of the First Quarto, 
where the statement is made, "as it hath beene lately Acted." 



1 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

Of contemporary allusions, that found in Corbet's Iter Boreale 
(1618), which identifies Burbage x with the part of Richard 
the Third, is perhaps the best known. In rhyming iambic 
pentameter couplets Corbet recounts a journey past Bos- 
worth Field, which caused his traveling companion to recall 
the acting of Burbage : 

Why, he [Corbet's companion] could tell 

The inch where Richmond stood, where Richard fell : 

Besides what of his knowledge he could say, 

He had authenticke notice from the Play : 

Which I might guesse. . . . 

But chiefly by that one perspicuous thing, 

Where he mistooke a player for a king. 

For when he would have sayd, King Richard dyed, 

And call'd — A horse ! a horse ! — he Burbidge cry'de. 2 

The first reference to a definite performance of the play 
is a brief mention in the diary of Sir Henry Herbert under 
the date 1633: " Richarde the Thirde was acted by the 
K. players at St: James, where the king and queene were 
present, it being the first play the queene sawe since her 
M. tys delivery of the Duke of York." 

The Eighteenth Century 

During the eighteenth century the only version of King 
Richard the Third known to play-goers was Colley Gibber's 
The Tragical History of King Richard III altered from Shake- 
spear. This was much shorter than the original, the result of 
excluding many of the dramatis personam, even so important 

1 Richard Burbage (Burbige, Burbadge) was the famous actor of 
the company to which Shakespeare belonged. 

2 As quoted in The Henry Irving Shakespeare, Volume III, 
page 10. 



INTRODUCTION li 

a dramatic figure as Queen Margaret being omitted. But 
Cibber was not content with using the blue pencil; he 
added much new matter and made changes with strange 
recklessness. He seemed to feel that without such revision at 
his hands the text must fail to drive into the consciousness, 
of the audience the enormity of Richard's crimes. So he 
borrowed from the third part of King Henry the Sixth the 
murder of the King and showed Richard gloating over the 
details as he listens to the murderers who plan the Prince's 
violent death. As Macdonald points out, in Cibber's hands 
" the drama becomes a mere common story of revolting 
wickedness and well-merited retribution." 

Garrick, Sheridan, and Kemble are among the celebrated 
actors of the eighteenth century who appeared in the play, 
and strange to say, in Cibber's version. Garrick's first ap- 
pearance at Goodman's Fields was as Richard the Third. 
The play-bill announcing this first performance of Garrick is 
interesting: "October 19, 1741, . . . At the Theatre in 
Goodman's Fields, this day will be performed, | A Concert 
of Vocal & Instrumental Music, | Divided into two 
parts, I N. B. Between the Two Parts of the Concert will 
be presented an Historical Play, called the | Life and Death 
of King Richard the Third. | Containing the distresses 
of K. Henry VI. | The artful acquisition of the Crown by 
King Richard, | The Murder of Young King Edward V, and 
his Brother in the Tower, | The landing of the Earl of Rich- 
mond, I And the Death of King Richard in the memorable 
Battle of Bosworth Field, being the last that was fought be- 
tween the Houses | of York and Lancaster ; with many other 
true Historical Passages. | The Part of King Richard by 
A gentleman, I (who never appeared on any stage) . . . ." 



Hi THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 

By a curious coincidence Mrs. Siddons's first appearance 
in King Richard the Third was at Drury Lane in the same 
year, 1776, that Garrick acted Richard for the last time. 

The Nineteenth Century 

During the early part of the nineteenth century the 
noteworthy performances were those of John and Charles 
Kemble, Edmund Kean, and Macready. " Richard III was 
one of Kean's most popular impersonations ; but it may be 
doubted whether his greatest qualities were so forcibly dis- 
played in this character as in Othello, Hamlet, or Lear. 
Like everything he did, Kean's conception of the character 
was essentially original and carefully thought out ; all the 
finest portions of it were those in which Shakespeare's poetry 
had been untouched by the deforming hand of Cibber. It 
seems that in his first season at Drury Lane, 18 13-18 14, 
Kean acted the part twenty-five times, and in his next season 
at the same theatre also twenty-five times : the only other 
play of Shakespeare he played as often in that season 
being Macbeth." — Marshall. 

The part of Richard was regarded as Edmund Kean's 
masterpiece, more wonderful even than his interpretation of 
Shylock so often referred to by contemporary critics as the 
most impressive impersonation the English stage had ever 
known. In the part of Richard the natural disadvantages of 
Kean's small figure and harsh voice were turned to splendid 
account. " Joyous and sarcastic in the opening soliloquy ; 
devilish as he passed his bright sword through the still 
breathing body of Lancaster; audaciously hypocritical, and 
almost too exulting, in the wooing of Lady Anne; cruelly 
kind to the young Princes, his eye smiling while his foot 



INTRODUCTION liii 

seemed restless to crush the two spiders that so vexed his 
heart : in representing all this there was an originality and 
a nature which were entirely new to the delighted audience. 
Then they seemed to behold altogether a new man revealed 
to them, in the first words uttered by him from the throne, — 
' Stand all apart! ' — from which period to the last struggle 
with Richmond there was an uninterrupted succession of 
beauties. . . . The triumph was accumulative, and it was 
crowned by the tent scene, the battle, and the death . . . 
In the faint yet deadly-meant passes which he made with 
his swordless arm after he had received his death-blow, there 
was the conception of a great artist ; and there died with 
him a malignity which mortal man had never before so 
terribly portrayed." — Doran. 1 

Not until 1877 was the original play placed upon the 
stage, this restoration being due to Sir Henry Irving, whose 
first performance was given January 29 at the Lyceum 
Theatre. Unanimous approval greeted the reappearance of 
the play in its original form. 

Irving never offered Richard in America, but during the 
nineteenth century such English actors as Cooke and Charles 
Kean appeared in the title role in this country. Of the 
American actors who have starred in the play, Edwin Booth 
won lasting fame. He first acted the part of Richard in San 
Francisco in 1852, using Cibber's version, but later he made 
an adaptation of his own with few alterations of Shake- 
speare's original. His interpretation of Richard has prob- 
ably never been surpassed on the stage, he alone of the 
many notable actors of the part realizing completely the 
intellectual power of Shakespeare's hero. 

1 Annals of the English Stage, Volume III, pages 380-381. 



AUTHORITIES 

(With the more important abbreviations used in the notes) 

Qi = First Quarto, 1597. 
Q 2 = Second Quarto, 1598. 
Q 3 = Third Quarto, 1602. 
Q 4 = Fourth Quarto, 1605. 
Q5 = Fifth Quarto, 161 2. 
Qq = all the Quartos. 
Fi = First Folio, 1623. 
F 2 = Second Folio, 1632. 
F 3 = Third Folio, 1663, 1664. 
F 4 = Fourth Folio, 1685. 
Ff = all the seventeenth century Folios. 
Rovve = Rowe's editions, 1709, 17 14. 
Pope = Pope's editions, 1723, 1728. 
Theobald = Theobald's editions, 1733, 1740. 
Hanmer = Hanmer's edition, 1744. 
Johnson = Johnson's edition, 1765. 
Capell = Capell's edition, 1768. 
Malone = Malone's edition, 1790. 
Steevens = Steevens's edition, 1793. 

Globe = Globe edition (Clark and Wright), 1864. 
Dyce = Dyce's (third) edition, 1875. 
Delius = Delius's (fifth) edition, 1882. 
Camb = Cambridge (third) edition (W. A. Wright), 1891. 
Clar = Clarendon Press edition (W. A. Wright). 
Herford = C. H. Herford's Eversley edition. 
Abbott = E. A. Abbott's A Shakespearian Gramma?: 
Bradley = A. C. Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy, 1904. 
Cotgrave = Cotgrave's Dictionarie of the French and English 

Tongues, 161 1. 
Schmidt = Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon. 

Skeat = Skeat's An Etymological Dictionary. 
Murray = A New English Dictionary {The Oxford Dictionary). 
Holinshed = Holinshed's Chronicles (second edition), 1 586-1587. 

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lix 



DISTRIBUTION OF CHARACTERS 

In this analysis are shown the acts and scenes in which the char- 
acters (see Dramatis Personae, page 2) appear, with the number of 
speeches and lines given to each. 

Note. Parts of lines are counted as whole lines. 







NO. OF 


NO. OF 






NO. OF 


NO. OF 






SPEECHES 


LINES 






SPEECHES 


LINES 


King Edward 


II, i 


II 


64 


Ely 


III,iv 


6 


7 


Prince Edward 


III, i 


18 


43 


Buckingham 














I, iii 


8 


12 


York 


II, iv 


6 


16 




II, i 


4 


12 




III, i 


_£5 


21 




II, ii 

III, i 


3 
16 


24 
58 






21 


39 




III, ii 

III, iv 


3 

5 


7 
12 


Clarence 


I, i 


7 


22 




III.v 


9 


27 




I, iv 


21 


142 




III,vii 


20 


156 






32 


164 




IV, ii 

V, i 


19 
_3 


29 

21 


Gloucester 


I, i 


16 


125 






90 


364 


(RichardIII) 


I, ii 


44 


i54 








I, iii 

II, i 


3o 

5 
5 


125 
40 

r 9 


Norfolk 


V, iii 


8 


10 




II, ii 












III, i 


26 


56 


Surrey 


V, iii 


1 


j 




III, iv 


8 


32 












III, V 

III,vii 

IV, ii 
IV, iii 


13 
IS 
29 
6 


69 
73 
83 
26 


Rivers 


I, iii 

II, i 

II, ii 

III, iii 


14 
2 
3 


J 9 
3 
12 




IV, iv 


73 


198 




4 


21 




V, iii 


28 


154 






23 


51 




V, iv 


2 


6 














300 


1 160 


Dorset 


I, iii 

II, i 


3 

2 


3 

4 


Boy 


II, ii 


10 


22 




II, ii 
IV, i 


j 


7 


Richmond 


V, ii 
V, iii 


2 
8 


'9 

85 






7 


iS 




V, v 


_4 


32 


Grey 


I, iii 


3 


6 






14 


136 




III, iii 


2 


__4 


Cardinal 


III, i 


2 


9 






5 


10 


Archbishop 


II, iv 


5 


12 


Oxford 


V, ii 


1 


2 



lx 



DISTRIBUTION OF CHARACTERS 



lxi 







NO. I IF 


NO. OF 






NO. OF 


NO. OF 






SPEECHES 


LINES 






speeches 


LINES 


Hastings 


I. i 


5 


IO 


Brakenbiky 


I, i 


4 


8 




I, iii 


3 


5 




I, ii 


9 


25 




II, i 


3 


3 




IV, i 


3 


6 




II, ii 

III, i 


2 


6 






16 


39 




III, ii 


22 


70 


Urswick 


IV, v 


2 


8 




[II, iv 


IO 


_49 














16 


•44 


Gentlemen 


I, ii 


2 


2 


Stanley 


I, iii 


3 


8 


Mayor 


III, i 


! 


I 




II, i 


3 


5 




III, V 


3 


II 




III, ii 


3 


i3 




Ill.vii 


_S 


5 




III, iv 


ii 


8 












IV, i 


3 


ii 






9 


J 7 




IV, ii 
IV, iv 


i 


3 


Sheriff 


V, i 


2 


2 




IO 


17 












IV, v 

V, iii 


3 

2 


12 
21 


Elizabeth 


I, iii 


17 


50 




V, v 


_S 


_9 




II, i 

II, ii 


3 
6 


7 
21 






42 


107 




II, iv 

IV, i 


8 
10 


15 
32 


Lovel 


Ill.iv 


I 


1 




IV, iv 


54 


149 




III.v 


2 


2 
3 






98 


274 










Margaret 


I, iii 


23 


124 


Vaughan 


III, iii 


I 


1 




IV, iv 


10 
33 


94 
218 


Ratcliff 


III, iii 


3 


3 












III, iv 




2 


Duchess of 


II, ii 


12 


44 




IV, iv 


3 


10 


York 


II, iv 


11 


26 




V, iii 


ii 


J_S 




IV, i 


11 


16 






"Is 


30 




IV, iv 


11 
5i 


_5± 
140 


Catesby 


I, iii 


i 


2 












III, i 


4 


5 


Anne 


I, ii 


42 


118 




III, ii 


8 


16 




IV, i 


8 


J9 




Ill.vii 


5 


!4 






5° 


i57 




IV, ii 


2 


2 












IV, iii 


2 


4 


Girl 


II, ii 


6 


8 




IV, iv 


4 


8 












V, iii 


3 


4 


1 Ghost 


V, iii 


r 


6 




V, iv 


2 


_7 














3i 


62 


2 Ghost 


V, iii 


1 


7 


Tyrrel 


IV, ii 


6 


8 


3 Ghost 


V, iii 


1 


8 




IV, iii 


_4 


_2g 












IO 


37 


4 Ghost 


V, iii 


2 


4 


Blunt 


V, ii 
V, iii 


2 


2 
6 


5 Ghost 


V, iii 


2 


3 






3 


8 


6 Ghost 


V, iii 


2 


4 


Herbert 


V, ii 




1 


7 Ghost 


V, iii 


1 


5 



lxii 



THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



8 Ghost 

9 Ghost 
io Ghost 
ii Ghost 
Lords 
Pursuivant 
Scrivener 

i Citizen 

2 Citizen 

3 Citizen 

i Murderer 



V, iii 
V, iii 
V, iii 
V, iii 
V, iii 

II, ii 

II, vi 

I, 

I, 

I, 



NO. of 
speeche.^ 



NO. OF 

lines 



2 Murderer 

Keeper 

i Messenger 



2 Messenger 

3 Messenger 

4 Messenger 
Priest 
Another 
Page 



I,iv 

I, iv 

II, iv 

III, ii 

IV, iv 

V, iii 



IV, iv 
IV, iv 
IV, iv 

III, ii 
III,vii 

IV, ii 



NO. OF 
SPEECHES 



NO. OF 
LINES 



THE TRAGEDY OF 
KING RICHARD THE THIRD 



DRAMATIS PERSON^ 1 



King Edward the Fourth. 2 
Edward, Prince of 

Wales, afterwards 

King Edward V, 
Richard, Duke of 

York, 
George, Dukeof Clar- " 



sons to the 
King 



brothers 
to the 
King 



ence, 

Richard, Duke of 
Gloucester, 3 after- 
wards King Rich- 
ard III, 

A young son of Clarence 

Henry, Earl of Richmond, after- 
wards King Henry VII 

Cardinal Bourchier, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury 

Thomas Rotherham, Arch- 
bishop of York 

John Morton, Bishop of Ely 

Duke of Buckingham 

Duke of Norfolk 

Earl of Surrey, his son 

EarlRivers, brother to Elizabeth 

Marquis of Dorset and Lord 
Grey, sons to Elizabeth 

Earl of Oxford 

Lord Hastings 

Lord Stanley, called also 
-Earl of Derby 



'"Lord Lovel 

Sir Thomas Vaughan 
■"-Sir Richard Ratcliff 

-Sir William Catesby 

Sir James Tyrrel 

Sir James Blunt 

Sir Walter Herbert 
• Sir Robert BRAKENBURY,Lieu- 
tenant of the Tower 

- Christopher L T RSWicK,a priest. 

Another Priest 
~ Tressel and Berkeley, gentle- 
men attending on the Lady 

■* Anne 

Lord Mayor of London 

Sheriff of Wiltshire 

- Elizabeth, queen to King Ed- 

ward IV 
Margaret, widow of King 

Henry VI 
Duchess of York, mother to 
King Edward IV 
-Lady Anne, widow of Edward, 
-■ Prince of Wales, son to King 
— Henry VI ; afterwards mar- 
. ried to Richard 
""A young Daughter of Clarence 
" (Margaret Plantagenet) 



Ghosts of those murdered by Richard III, Lords and other Attend- 
ants ; a Pursuivant, Scrivener, Citizens, Murderers, Messengers, 
Soldiers, &c. 

Scene : England 

1 Rowe was the first to give a list of Dramatis Personam. Rowe's list was 
very imperfect and has been corrected by later editors. 

2 Notes on the historical relations of the Dramatis Personam are given 
either in the Introduction (Historical Connections) or when each character is 
introduced into the play. 

3 Gloucester. Pronounced ' Glos'ter.' The Folios spell the name ' Glos- 
ter,' ' Glouster,' etc. In the First Quarto the common spelling is ' Glocester.' 

2 



ACT I 

Scene I. [London, A street] 
Enter Richard, Duke of Gloucester, solus 

Gloucester. Now is the winter of our discontent 
Made glorious summer by this sun of York ; 
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house 
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. 
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths ; 5 

Our bruised arms hung up for monuments ; 
Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings, 
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. 
Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front ; 
And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds 10 

To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, 
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber 
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. 
But I, that am not shap'd for sportive tricks, 
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass ; 15 

2. sun Rowe I sonne Qq I Son Ff. 

Act I. Scene I. In the Folios, not in the Quartos, the play is 
divided into acts and scenes, which are given with Latin nomencla- 
ture. The bracketed matter in the stage directions throughout the 
play is the work of Rowe and later editors. 

2. sun. The heraldic device of Edward IV was three suns in one. 

8. measures. The ' measure ' was a formal dance. 

10. barbed : caparisoned. The word is properly ' barded.' 
3 



4 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty 

To strut before a wanton ambling nymph ; 

I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion, 

Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, 

Deform'd, unfinished, sent before my time 20 

Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, 

And that so lamely and unfashionable, 

That dogs bark at me as I halt by them ; 

Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, 

Have no delight to pass away the time, 25 

Unless to spy my shadow in the sun, 

And descant on mine own deformity : 

And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, 

To entertain these fair well-spoken days, 

I am determined to prove a villain, 30 

And hate the idle pleasures of these days. 

Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, 

By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams, 

18. proportion : form, shape. ' This fair proportion ' may refer to 
what has just been spoken of as ' love's majesty.' But ' this ' is prob- 
ably here used indefinitely, and with something of a sneer. The 
demonstrative pronouns were, and still are, often used thus. 

19. feature : form, figure. Referring to the person in general. 
Cf. More's description of Richard : " Little of stature, ill-featured 
of limbs, crook-backed." — dissembling. Sometimes explained to 
mean, not 'deceiving,' but putting together or 'assembling' things 
not ' semblable,' as a brave mind and a deformed body, but the word 
' cheated ' seems to make rather strongly against this explanation. 

24. piping time : time of the music of the pipe. The pipe and 
the tabor were appropriate to peace, the drum and the fife to war. 
Cf. Much Ado About Nothing, II, iii, 13-16. 

29. entertain : while away. In I, ii, 256, the word (see Murray) 
means ' take into service '; in I, iii, 4, iv, 131, * harbor ' (of feelings). 

32. inductions : beginnings, preparations. So in IV, iv, 5. 



scene i KING RICHARD THE THIRD 5 

To set my brother Clarence and the king 

In deadly hate the one against the other ; 35 

And if King Edward be as true and just 

As I am subtle, false, and treacherous, 

This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up, 

About a prophecy, which says that G 

Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be. 40 

Dive, thoughts, down to my soul ; here Clarence comes. 

Enter Clarence, guarded, and Brakenbury 

Brother, good day. What means this armed guard 
That waits upon your grace ? 

Clarence. His majesty, 

Tend'ring my person's safety, hath appointed 
This conduct to convey me to the Tower. 45 

Gloucester. Upon what cause ? 

Clarence. Because my name is George. 

Gloucester. Alack, my lord, that fault is none of yours ; 
He should, for that, commit your godfathers. 
O, belike his majesty hath some intent 

That you shall be new-christ'ned in the Tower. 50 

But what 's the matter, Clarence ? may I know ? 

Clarence. Yea, Richard, when I know ; for I protest 
As yet I do not : but, as I can learn, 
He hearkens after prophecies and dreams ; 

38. mew'd up. From falconry. Hawks were shut up in a ' mew ' 
during the season of moulting. 

44. Tend'ring : having tender regard for, holding dear. Cf. II, 
iv, 72 ; IV, iv, 405 ; Hamlet, I, iii, 107. The verb is derived from 
the adjective. 

45. conduct : conductor, escort. Cf. Twelfth Night, III, iv, 265. 
49. belike : in all likelihood. See Murray. 



6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

And from the cross-row plucks the letter G, 55 

And says a wizard told him that by G 

His issue disinherited should be ; 

And, for my name of George begins with G, 

It follows in his thought that I am he. 

These, as I learn, and such like toys as these 60 

Have mov'd his highness to commit me now. 

Gloucester. Why, this it is, when men are rul'd by women. 
'T is not the king that sends you to the Tower ; 
My Lady Grey his wife, Clarence, 'tis she 
That tempers him to this extremity. 65 

Was it not she and that good man of worship, 
Antony Woodeville, her brother there, 
That made him send Lord Hastings to the Tower, 
From whence this present day he is deliver'd ? 
We are not safe, Clarence ; we are not safe. 70 

Clarence. By heaven, I think there is no man secure 
But the queen's kindred and night-walking heralds 
That trudge betwixt the king and Mistress Shore. 
Heard ye not what an humble suppliant 
Lord Hastings was to her for his delivery ? 75 

65. tempers . . . this Qi | tempts 75. to her for his Qq I for her Fi I 

him to this harsh Ff. for his F2F3F4. 

55. cross-row. An abbreviation of ' Christ-cross-row,' i.e. the alpha- 
bet, so called because a cross was placed before it. 
58. for: because. A frequent usage. Cf. II, ii, 95. 
60. toys: freaks of imagination. Cf. Hamlet, I, iv, 75. 

64. Lady Grey. See note, line 81. 

65. tempers : frames, fashions, disposes. 

67. Woodeville. Here trisyllabic. Often spelled ' Woodville.' 

73. Mistress Shore. Jane Shore, Edward's mistress, was the wife 

of a London citizen. She is often mentioned in old chronicles, plays, 

and poems. 



scenic i KING RICHARD THE THIRD 7 

Gloucester. Humbly complaining to her deity 
Got my lord chamberlain his liberty. 
I '11 tell you what ; I think it is our way, 
If we will keep in favour with the king, 
To be her men and wear her livery. 80 

The jealous o'er worn widow and herself, 
Since that our brother dubb'd them gentlewomen, 
Are mighty gossips in this monarchy. 

Brakenbury. I beseech your graces both to pardon me ; 
His majesty hath straitly given in charge 85 

That no man shall have private conference, 
Of what degree soever, with his brother. 

Gloucester. Even so ; and please your worship, Braken- 
bury, 
You may partake of any thing we say. 
We speak no treason, man : we say the king 90 

Is wise and virtuous ; and his noble queen 
Well struck in years, fair, and not jealous ; 
We say that Shore's wife hath a pretty foot, 
A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a passing pleasing tongue ; 
And that the queen's kindred are made gentlefolks. 95 

How say you, sir ? can you deny all this ? 

Brakenbury. With this, my lord, myself have nought to do. 

Gloucester. Nought to do with Mistress Shore ! I tell 
thee, fellow, 

88. and QqFf | an 't Pope Globe. 

81. widow. The queen was the widow of Sir John Grey, who, in 
3 Henry VI, III, ii, 2, was called Sir Richard Grey, probably by a copy- 
ist's error. 'Widow' and ' o'erworn ' are here used contemptuously. 

83. gossips : " persons who are on intimate terms, and therefore 
supposed to be possessed of influence with each other." — Clar. 
Properly the word means ' godmothers.' See Murray. 



8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

He that doth naught with her, excepting one, 

Were best to do it secretly, alone. ioo 

Brakenbury. What one, my lord ? 

Gloucester. Her husband, knave. Wouldst thou betray 
me? 

Brakenbury. Beseech your grace to pardon me ; and, 
withal, 
Forbear your conference with the noble duke. 

Clarence. We know thy charge, Brakenbury, and will 
obey. 105 

Gloucester. We are the queen's abjects, and must obey. 
Brother, farewell : I will unto the king ; 
And whatsoe'er you will employ me in, 
Were it to call King Edward's widow sister, 
I will perform it to enfranchise you. no 

Meantime, this deep disgrace in brotherhood 
Touches me deeper than you can imagine. 

Clarence. I know it pleaseth neither of us well. 

Gloucester. Well, your imprisonment shall not be long ; 
I will deliver you, or else lie for you. 1 1 5 

Meantime have patience. 

Clarence. I must perforce. Farewell. 

Exeunt Clarence, [Brakenbury, and Guard'] 

Gloucester. Go, tread the path that thou shalt ne'er 
return, 
Simple, plain Clarence ! I do love thee so 

100. to Ff I he Qq. 101-102. Qi omits. 

99. naught. Richard is quibbling between ' nought ' and ' naught,' 
the latter of which has the sense of ' naughtiness,' 'wickedness.' 
106. abjects : humblest and most obedient subjects. 
112. 'Touches' and 'lie,' line 115, are used quibblingly. 



scene i KING RICHARD THE THIRD 9 

That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven, 

If heaven will take the present at our hands. 120 

But who comes here ? the new-deliver'd Hastings ? 

Enter Lord Hastings 

Hastings. Good time of day unto my gracious lord ! 

Gloucester. As much unto my good lord chamberlain ! 
Well are you welcome to the open air. 
How hath your lordship brook'd imprisonment ? 125 

Hastings. With patience, noble lord, as prisoners must ; 
But I shall live, my lord, to give them thanks 
That were the cause of my imprisonment. 

Gloucester. No doubt, no doubt ; and so shall Clarence 
too ; 
For they that were your enemies are his, 130 

And have prevail'd as much on him as you. 

Hastings. More pity that the eagle should be mew'd, 
While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. 

Gloucester. What news abroad ? 

Hastings. No news so bad abroad as this at home ; 135 
The king is sickly, weak, and melancholy, 
And his physicians fear him mightily. 

Gloucester. Now, by Saint Paul, this news is bad indeed. 
O, he hath kept an evil diet long, 

And overmuch consum'd his royal person ; 140 

'T is very grievous to be thought upon. 
What, is he in his bed ? 

Hastings. He is. 

133- Prey Qq I play Ff. 138. Paul Qq | John Ff. 

137. fear : fear for, are mightily concerned for. 
139. evil diet: bad habit of life (Greek 8laira). 



IO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Gloucester. Go you before, and I will follow you. 

Exit Hastings 
He cannot live, I hope; and must not die 145 

Till George be pack'd with post-horse up to heaven. 
I '11 in, to urge his hatred more to Clarence, 
With lies well steel'd with weighty arguments ; 
And, if I fail not in my deep intent, 

Clarence hath not another day to live : 1 50 

Which done, God take King Edward to his mercy, 
And leave the world for me to bustle in ! 
For then I '11 marry Warwick's youngest daughter. 
What though I kill'd her husband and her father ? 
The readiest way to make the wench amends, 155 

Is to become her husband and her father : 
The which will I ; not all so much for love 
As for another secret close intent, 
By marrying her which I must reach unto. 
But yet I run before my horse to market : 160 

Clarence still breathes ; Edward still lives and reigns : 
When they are gone, then must I count my gains. Exit 

153. daughter. This was Lady Anne, daughter of Richard Neville, 
the great Earl of Warwick, known in history as the 'king-maker.' 
She had been married to Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI. 
Her young husband was killed, murdered, it was said, at the battle 
of Tewksbury, which took place May 4, 1471. Her oldest sister, 
Isabella, wife to the Clarence of this play, had died some time before. 

158. secret close intent. Probably the getting into his hands of 
the son and daughter of Clarence, who had been left in the care 
of Lady Anne their aunt, and had succeeded to the larger portion 
of the vast estates of their grandfather, the great Earl of Warwick. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD n 



Scene II. The same. AnotJier street 

Enter the corpse of King Henry the Sixth with [Gentle- 
men and] halberds to guard it [among them Tressel 
and Berkeley] ; Lady Anne being the mourner 

Anne. Set down, set down your honourable load, 
If honour may be shrouded in a hearse, 
Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament 
Th' untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster. 

[The Bearers set down the coffin] 
Poor key-cold figure of a holy king ! 5 

Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster ! 
Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood ! 
Be 't lawful that I invocate thy ghost 
To hear the lamentations of poor Anne, 
Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaught'red son, 10 

Stabb'd by the selfsame hand that made these wounds ! 
Lo, in these windows that let forth thy life 
I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes. 
O cursed be the hand that made these holes ! 
Cursed the heart that had the heart to do it ! 15 

Cursed the blood that let this blood from hence ! 

11. wounds Ff I holes Qq. 15. Cursed Ff | Curst be Qq. 

14. cursed Ff | Curst Qq. 16. Qq omit. 

3. obsequiously lament : make the lamentation proper to obse- 
quies, or rites of burial. Cf. Hamlet, I, ii, 92. 

5. key-cold : cold as a key. A proverbial expression. A key was 
often used to stop bleeding. Cf. Lucrece, 1774-1775 : "And then in 
key-cold Lucrece ' bleeding stream He falls." — holy. Cf . ' dead saint,' 
IV, i, 70; 'holy Harry,' IV, i, 25 ; ' Holy King Henry,' V, i, 5. 

13. helpless: unhelping, unavailing. Cf. 'timeless,' I, ii, 117. 



12 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

More direful hap betide that hated wretch 

That makes us wretched by the death of thee, 

Than I can wish to adders, spiders, toads, 

Or any creeping venom'd thing that lives ! 20 

If ever he have child, abortive be it, 

Prodigious, and untimely brought to light, 

Whose ugly and unnatural aspect 

May fright the hopeful mother at the view ; 

And that be heir to his unhappiness ! 25 

If ever he have wife, let her be made 

More miserable by the death of him 

Than I am made by my young lord and thee ! 

Come, now towards Chertsey with your holy load, 

Taken from Paul's to be interred there ; 30 

And still, as you are weary of the weight, 

Rest you, whiles I lament King Henry's corse. 

[The Bearers take up the coffin and move forzaard] 

E?iter Gloucester 

Gloucester. Stay, you that bear the corse, and set it 

down. 
Anne. What black magician conjures up this fiend, 
To stop devoted charitable deeds ? 35 

Gloucester. Villains, set down the corse; or, by Saint 
Paul, 
I '11 make a corse of him that disobeys ! 

19. adders Qq | Wolves, to Ff . 27-28. More . . . Than Ff | As . . . As Qq. 
25. Qq omit. 28. young Ff | poor Qq. 

22. Prodigious : monstrous, portentous. The only meaning of the 
word in Shakespeare. 

25. unhappiness: mischievousness, propensity to mischief. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 13 

1 Gentleman. My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass. 

Gloucester. Unmanner'd dog ! stand thou, when I 
command. 
Advance thy halberd higher than my breast, 40 

Or, by Saint Paul, I '11 strike thee to my foot, 
And spurn upon thee, beggar, for thy boldness. 

[T/ie Bearers set down the coffin~\ 

Anne. What, do you tremble ? are you all afraid ? 
Alas, I blame you not ; for you are mortal, 
And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil. 45 

Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of hell ! 
Thou hadst but power over his mortal body, 
His soul thou canst not have ; therefore be gone. 

Gloucester. Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst. 

Anne. Foul devil, for God's sake, hence, and trouble us not ; 
For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell, 51 

Fill'd it with cursing cries and deep exclaims. 
If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds, 
Behold this pattern of thy butcheries. 

O, gentlemen, see, see ! dead Henry's wounds 55 

Open their congeal'd mouths and bleed afresh ! 
Blush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity ; 

39. Unmanner'd : unmannerly. So elsewhere in Shakespeare. 

40. advance : move upwards, raise. Cf. V, iii, 264. 

49. curst : sharp-tongued, shrewish. Often so. Cf. A Midsummer 
Night's Dream, III, ii, 300. 

55-56. wounds . . . bleed. This is founded on Holinshed's account 
of Henry's funeral : " The dead corps was conveied from the Tower 
to the church of saint Paule, and there laid on a beire or coffen 
bare-faced : the same in presence of the beholders did bleed. From 
thense he was caried to the Blackfriers, and bled there likewise." 
It was a popular superstition that the body of a murdered person 
would bleed afresh, if touched or approached by the murderer. 



14 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

For 't is thy presence that exhales this blood 

From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells ; 

Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural, 60 

Provokes this deluge most unnatural. 

O God, which this blood mad'st, revenge his death ! 

O earth, which this blood drink'st, revenge his death ! 

Either heaven, with lightning strike the murderer dead ; 

Or earth, gape open wide, and eat him quick, 65 

As thou dost swallow up this good king's blood, 

Which his hell-govern'd arm hath butchered ! 

Gloucester. Lady, you know no rules of charity, 
Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses. 

Anne. Villain, thou know'st no law of God nor man ; 70 
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. 

Gloucester. But I know none, and therefore am no beast. 

Anne. O wonderful, when devils tell the truth ! 

Gloucester. More wonderful, when angels are so angry. 
Vouchsafe, divine perfection of a woman, 75 

Of these supposed crimes, to give me leave, 
By circumstance, but to acquit myself. 

Anne. Vouchsafe, defus'd infection of a man, 
For these known evils, but to give me leave, 
By circumstance, to curse thy cursed self. 80 

Gloucester. Fairer than tongue can name thee, let me have 
Some patient leisure to excuse myself. 

76. crimes Ff | evils Qq. 79. For Qq | Of Ff. 

58. exhales: draws out. So in line 165. In Hemy V, II, i, 66, 
Pistol uses the verb imperatively, meaning ' draw thy sword.' 

65. quick: alive, living. Cf. 'quicken,' IV, iv, 123. 

78. defus'd : shapeless. So in the Quartos and the First and 
Second Folios. The Third and Fourth Folios have ' diffus'd.' 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 15 

Anne. Fouler than heart can think thee, thou canst make 
No excuse current, but to hang thyself. 

Gloucester. By such despair I should accuse myself. 85 

Anne. And, by despairing, shouldst thou stand excus'd 
For doing worthy vengeance on thyself, 
That didst unworthy slaughter upon others. 

Gloucester. Say that I slew them not. 

Anne. Why, then they are not dead ; 

But dead they are, and, devilish slave, by thee. 90 

Gloucester. I did not kill your husband. 

Anne. Why, then he is alive. 

Gloucester. Nay, he is dead ; and slain by Edward's hand. 

Anne. In thy foul throat thou liest ! Queen Margaret saw 
Thy murderous falchion smoking in his blood ; 
The which thou once didst bend against her breast, 95 

But that thy brothers beat aside the point. 

Gloucester. I was provoked by her slanderous tongue, 
That laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders. 

Anne. Thou wast provoked by thy bloody mind, 
That never dreamt on aught but butcheries. 100 

Didst thou not kill this king ? 

Gloucester. I grant ye. 

Anne. Dost grant me, hedgehog? then, God grant me too 
Thou mayst be damned for that wicked deed ! 
O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous ! 

Gloucester. The fitter for the king of heaven, that hath 
him. 105 

Anne. He is in heaven, where thou shalt never come. 

88, 98, 100. That Ff I Which Qq. 
89. Say . . . not : suppose that I did not kill them. 
98. their guilt. The guilt of his brothers who slew the prince. 



16 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Gloucester. Let him thank me, that holp to send him 
thither ; 
For he was fitter for that place than earth. 

Anne. And thou unfit for any place but hell. 

Gloucester. Yes, one place else, if you will hear me 
name it. no 

Anne. Some dungeon. 

Gloucester. Your bed-chamber. 

Anne, 111 rest betide the chamber where thou liest ! 

Gloucester. So will it, madam, till I lie with you. 

Anne. I hope so. 

Gloucester. I know so. But, gentle Lady Anne, 

To leave this keen encounter of our wits, 1 1 5 

And fall somewhat into a slower method, 
Is not the causer of the timeless deaths 
Of these Plantagenets, Henry and Edward, 
As blameful as the executioner? 119 

Anne. Thou wast the cause, and most accurs'd effect. 

Gloucester. Your beauty was the cause of that effect ; 
Your beauty that did haunt me in my sleep 
To undertake the death of all the world, 
So I might live one hour in your sweet bosom. 

Anne. If I thought that, I tell thee, homicide, 125 

These nails should rend that beauty from my cheeks. 

Gloucester. These eyes could not endure that beauty's 
wreck ; 

120. wast Ff I art Qq. 127. not Ff I never Qq. — that 

122. that Ff I which Qq. Ff | sweet Qq. 

107. holp. The usual form in Shakespeare, but see V, iii, 167. 
117. timeless: untimely. Cf. Romeo and ' Jnliet,V ,\\\, 162: "Poison, 
I see, hath been his timeless end." Cf. 'helpless,' I, ii, 13, and see note. 
120. effect : execution. Schmidt suggests ' efficient cause.' 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD \J 

You should not blemish it, if I stood by. 

As all the world is cheered by the sun, 

So I by that ; it is my day, my life. 130 

Anne. Black night o'ershade thy day, and death thy life ! 

Gloucester. Curse not thyself, fair creature ; thou art both. 

Anne. I would I were, to be reveng'd on thee. 

Gloucester. It is a quarrel most unnatural, 
To be reveng'd on him that loveth thee. 135 

Anne. It is a quarrel just and reasonable, 
To be reveng'd on him that kill'd my husband. 

Gloucester. He that bereft thee, lady, of thy husband, 
Did it to help thee to a better husband. 

Anne. His better doth not breathe upon the earth. 140 

Gloucester. He lives that loves thee better than he could. 

Anne. Name him. 

Gloucester. Plantagenet. 

Anne. Why, that was he. 

Gloucester. The selfsame name, but one of better nature. 

Anne. Where is he ? 

Gloucester. Here. 

[She spits at him~\ 
Why dost thou spit at me ? 

Anne. Would it were mortal poison, for thy sake ! 145 

Gloucester. Never came poison from so sweet a place. 

Anne. Never hung poison on a fouler toad. 
Out of my sight ! thou dost infect mine eyes. 

Gloucester. Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected mine. 

Anne. Would they were basilisks, to strike thee dead ! 150 

150. basilisks. The basilisk, or cockatrice (cf. IV, i, 54), was sup- 
posed to kill by a look. Shakespeare has several allusions to the 
power of this fabulous serpent. Cf. 2 Henry VI, III, ii, 52. 



18 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Gloucester. I would they were, that I might die at once ; 
For now they kill me with a living death. 
Those eyes of thine from mine have drawn salt tears, 
Sham'd their aspects with store of childish drops. 
These eyes, which never shed remorseful tear, 155 

No, when my father York and Edward wept 
To hear the piteous moan that Rutland made 
When black-fac'd Clifford shook his sword at him ; 
Nor when thy warlike father, like a child, 
Told the sad story of my father's death, 160 

And twenty times made pause to sob and weep, 
That all the standers-by had wet their cheeks, 
Like trees bedash'd with rain ; — in that sad time 
My manly eyes did scorn an humble tear ; 
And what these sorrows could not thence exhale, 165 

Thy beauty hath, and made them blind with weeping. 
I never sued to friend nor enemy ; 
My tongue could never learn sweet smoothing words ; 
But, now thy beauty is propos'd my fee, 
My proud heart sues, and prompts my tongue to speak. 170 

She looks scornfully at him 
Teach not thy lips such scorn ; for they were made 
For kissing, lady, not for such contempt. 
If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive, 
Lo, here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword ; 
Which if thou please to hide in this true breast, 175 

175. breast Ff | bosom Qq. 

155. remorseful: pitiful. Cf. 'remorse' for 'pity,' III, vii, 211. 
In IV, i, 108, 'remorse ' has its ordinary meaning. 

157. To hear : at hearing. The infinitive used gerundively. 
168. smoothing : flattering. Cf. ' smooth,' I, iii, 48. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 19 

And let the soul forth that adoreth thee, 

I lay it naked to the deadly stroke, 

And humbly beg the death upon my knee. 

He lays his breast open : she offers at it with his sword 
Nay, do not pause ; for I did kill King Henry, — 
But 'twas thy beauty that provoked me. 180 

Nay, now dispatch ; 't was I that stabb'd young Edward, 
But 't was thy heavenly face that set me on. 

She lets fall the sword 
Take up the sword again, or take up me. 

Anne. Arise, dissembler ; though I wish thy death, 
I will not be thy executioner. 185 

Gloucester. Then bid me kill myself, and I will do it. 
[Rises, and takes up his sword] 

Anne. I have already. 

Gloucester. That was in thy rage ; 

Speak it again, and, even with the word, 
This hand, which for thy love did kill thy love, 
Shall for thy love kill a far truer love ; 190 

To both their deaths shalt thou be accessary. 

Anne. I would I knew thy heart. 

Gloucester. 'T is figur'd in my tongue. 

Anne. I fear me both are false. 

Gloucester. Then never man was true. 195 

Anne. Well, well, put up your sword. 

Gloucester. Say, then, my peace is made. 

Anne. That shalt thou know hereafter. 

Gloucester. But shall I live in hope ? 

Anne. All men, I hope, live so. 200 

179. for . . . Henry Ff I twas I 181. 'twas . . . Edward Ff I twas 

that kild your husband Qq. I that kild king Henry Qq. 



20 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Gloucester. Vouchsafe to wear this ring. 

Anne. To take, is not to give. [She puts on the ring] 

Gloucester. Look, how my ring encompasseth thy finger, 
Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart ; 
Wear both of them, for both of them are thine. 205 

And if thy poor devoted servant may 
But beg one favour at thy gracious hand, 
Thou dost confirm his happiness for ever. 

Anne. What is it ? 

Gloucester. That it may please you leave these sad 
designs 210 

To him that hath more cause to be a mourner, 
And presently repair to Crosby House, 
Where, after I have solemnly interr'd, 
At Chertsey monastery, this noble king, 
And wet his grave with my repentant tears, 215 

I will with all expedient duty see you. 
For divers unknown reasons, I beseech you, 
Grant me this boon. 

Anne. With all my heart ; and much it joys me too 
To see you are become so penitent. 220 

Tressel and Berkeley, go along with me. 

Gloucester. Bid me farewell. 

Anne. 'T is more than you deserve ; 

But, since you teach me how to flatter you, 
Imagine I have said farewell already. 

Exeimt Lady Anne, Tressel, and Berkeley 

Gloucester. Sirs, take up tire corse. 

202-203. To . . . give Qq I Ff omit. 212. House Ff | Place Qq. 

206. servant Ff | suppliant Qq. 225. Sirs . . . corse Qq | Ff omit 

216. expedient duty : expeditious respect. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 21 

Gentlemen. Towards Chertsey, noble lord ? 225 

Gloucester. No, to White-Friars; there attend my coming. 

Exeunt all but Gloucester 

Was ever woman in this humour woo'd ? 

Was ever woman in this humour won ? 

I '11 have her ; but I will not keep her long. 

What ! I, that kill'd her husband and his father, 230 

To take her in her heart's extremest hate, 

With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes, 

The bleeding witness of her hatred by ; 

Having God, her conscience, and these bars against me, 

And I no friends to back my suit withal 235 

But the plain devil and dissembling looks, 

And yet to win her, all the world to nothing ! 

Ha! 

Hath she forgot already that brave prince, 

Edward, her lord, whom I, some three months since, 240 

Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury ? 

A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman, 

Fram'd in the prodigality of nature, 

Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal, 

235. no friends Ff | nothing Qq. — withal Ff | at all Q1Q2. 

226. attend : wait for, await. Often so. 

237. all the world to nothing: the chances against me were as all 
the world to nothing. Cf. Rotneo a?id Juliet, III, v, 215. 

241. Tewksbury. This fixes the time of the scene as August, 
1 47 1. King Edward, however, is introduced in the second act as 
dying. That king died in April, 1483; consequently there is an in- 
terval between this act and the next of almost twelve years. Clar- 
ence, who is represented in the preceding scene as committed to 
the Tower before the burial of Henry VI, was in fact not sent to 
prison till February, 1478, nearly seven years later. 



22 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

The spacious world cannot again afford : 245 

And will she yet abase her eyes on me, 

That cropp'd the golden prime of this sweet prince, 

And made her widow to a woeful bed ? 

On me, whose all not equals Edward's moiety ? 

On me, that halt and am mis-shapen thus ? 250 

My dukedom to a beggarly denier, 

I do mistake my person all this while : 

Upon my life, she finds, although I cannot, 

Myself to be a marvellous proper man. 

I '11 be at charges for a looking-glass, 255 

And entertain a score or two of tailors 

To study fashions to adorn my body. 

Since I am crept in favour with myself, 

I will maintain it with some little cost. 

But first I '11 turn yon fellow in his grave, 260 

And then return lamenting to my love. 

Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass, 

That I may see my shadow as I pass. Exit 

Scene III. [The palace] 

Enter Queen Elizabeth, Lord Rivers, and Lord Grey 

Rivers. Have patience, madam ; there 's no doubt his 
majesty 
Will soon recover his accustom'd health. 

246. abase Ff I debase Qq. 255. a Ff | some Qq. 

251. denier. A small coin, the twelfth part of a French sotc. 

254. marvellous proper : extremely handsome. 

256. entertain : take into service. See note, I, i, 29. 

260. in: into. Often so. Cf. I, hi, 89 ; III, vii, 128; V, hi, 222. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 23 

Grey. In that you brook it ill, it makes him worse. 
Therefore, for God's sake, entertain good comfort, 
And cheer his grace with quick and merry words. 5 

Queen Elizabeth. If he were dead, what would betide 
of me ? 

Rivers. No other harm but loss of such a lord. 

Queen Elizabeth. The loss of such a lord includes all 
harms. 

Grey. The heavens have bless'd you with a goodly son, 
To be your comforter when he is gone. 10 

Queen Elizabeth. Ah, he is young ; and his minority 
Is put into the trust of Richard Gloucester, 
A man that loves not me nor none of you. 

Rivers. Is it concluded he shall be protector ? 14 

Queen Elizabeth. It is determin'd, not concluded yet : 
But so it must be, if the king miscarry. 

Enter Buckingham and Stanley 

Grey. Here come the Lords of Buckingham and Stanley. 
Buckingham. Good time of day unto your royal grace ! 
Stanley. God make your majesty joyful as you have been ! 

7. Rivers Qq I Grey Ff. 

5. quick : lively, sprightly. Cf. I, ii, 65, and line 197 
15. determin'd : resolved on. — concluded : formally passed (so as 
to be a ground of action). 

17. Enter . . . Stanley. The Quartos and Folios have ' Derby ' 
or ' Darby.' The emendation in the text is Theobald's. Henry 
Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham, was descended, on his father's 
side, from Thomas of Woodstock, the fifth son of Edward III. 
He was as accomplished and as unprincipled as he was nobly 
descended. Thomas Lord Stanley was lord steward of the house- 
hold of Edward IV. 



24 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Queen Elizabeth. The Countess Richmond, good my 
Lord of Stanley, 20 

To your good prayer will scarcely say amen. 
Yet, Stanley, notwithstanding she 's your wife, 
And loves not me, be you, good lord, assur'd 
I hate not you for her proud arrogance. 

Stanley. I do beseech you, either not believe 25 

The envious slanders of her false accusers ; 
Or, if she be accus'd on true report, 
Bear with her weakness, which, I think, proceeds 
From wayward sickness, and no grounded malice. 29 

Rivers. Saw you the king to-day, my Lord of Stanley ? 
Stanley. But now the Duke of Buckingham and I 
Are come from visiting his majesty. 

Queen Elizabeth. What likelihood of his amendment, 

lords ? 
Buckingham. Madam, good hope ; his grace speaks 

cheerfully. 
Queen Elizabeth. God grant him health ! Did you confer 
with him ? 35 

30. Rivers Qq I Queen Ff. 

20. Countess Richmond. The Countess of Richmond was Mar- 
garet, the only child of John Beaufort, the first Duke of Somerset, 
and so was descended from John of Gaunt through the Beaufort 
branch of his family. Margaret's first husband was Edmund, Earl of 
Richmond, son of Owen Tudor, by whom she became the mother of 
Henry VII. Afterwards she was married successively to Sir Henry 
Stafford, uncle of Buckingham, and to the Lord Stanley of this play 
(V, v, 9). She lived to a great age, and was so highly reputed for 
prudence and virtue that her grandson, Henry VIII, was mainly 
guided by her advice in forming his first council. 

26. envious : malicious. So in I, iv, 37. Cf. ' envy,' IV, i, 99. 

29. wayward : showing itself in waywardness. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 25 

Buckingham. Ay, madam. He desires to make atonement 
Between the Duke of Gloucester and your brothers, 
And between them and my lord chamberlain ; 
And sent to warn them to his royal presence. 

Queen Elizabeth. Would all were well ! but that will 
never be ; 40 

I fear our happiness is at the height. 

Enter Gloucester [Hastings, and Dorset] 

Gloucester. They do me wrong, and I will not endure it. 
Who are they that complain unto the king 
That I, forsooth, am stern, and love them not ? 
By holy Paul, they love his grace but lightly 45 

That fill his ears with such dissentious rumours. 
Because I cannot natter and speak fair, 
Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive, and cog, 
Duck with French nods and apish courtesy, 
I must be held a rancorous enemy. 50 

Cannot a plain man live and think no harm, 
But thus his simple truth must be abus'd 
By silken, sly, insinuating Jacks ? 

Rivers. To whom in all this presence speaks your grace ? 

Gloucester. To thee, that hast nor honesty nor grace. 
When have I injured thee? when done thee wrong? 56 

Or thee ? or thee ? or any of your faction ? 
A plague upon you all ! His royal grace — 

41. height Ff | highest Qq. 58. grace Ff | person Qq. 

36. atonement: reconciliation. Cf. ' atone,' As You LikeIt,Y, iv, 1 16. 

39. warn: summon. Cf. King John, II, i, 201. 

48. smooth: flatter. As in I, ii, 168. — cog: cajole, cheat. 

53. Jacks. 'Jack' was often used as a term of contempt. 



26 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Whom God preserve better than you would wish ! — 
Cannot be quiet scarce a breathing- while, 60 

But you must trouble him with lewd complaints. 

Queen Elizabeth. Brother of Gloucester, you mistake 
the matter. 
The king, of his own royal disposition, 
And not provok'd by any suitor else ; 

Aiming, belike, at your interior hatred, 65 

That in your outward action shows itself 
Against my children, brothers, and myself, 
Makes him to send, that thereby he may gather 
The ground of your ill-will, and so remove it. 

Gloucester. I cannot tell; the world is grown so bad, 70 
That wrens may prey where eagles dare not perch. 
Since every Jack became a gentleman, 
There 's many a' gentle person made a Jack. 

Queen Elizabeth. Come, come, we know your meaning, 
brother Gloucester ; 
You envy my advancement and my friends': 75 

God grant we never may have need of you ! 

Gloucester. Meantime, God grants that we have need 
of you : 
Our brother is imprison'd by your means, 
Myself disgrac'd, and the nobility 
Held in contempt ; while great promotions 80 

80. while great Ff | whilst many fair Qq. 

61. lewd : knavish, wicked, base. Cf. Richard II, I, i, 90. 

68-69. The reading is substantially that of the Quartos. The Folios 
have : " Makes him to send that he may learn the ground." 

72-73. Richard is referring to the queen's sons, the Greys, and 
her brothers, the Woodvilles. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 27 

Are daily given to ennoble those 

That scarce, some two days since, were worth a noble. 

Queen Elizabeth. By Him that raised me to this careful 
height 
From that contented hap which I enjoy'd, 
I never did incense his majesty 85 

Against the Duke of Clarence, but have been 
An earnest advocate to plead for him. 
My lord, you do me shameful injury, 
Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects. 

Gloucester. You may deny that you were not the cause 
Of my Lord Hastings' late imprisonment. 91 

Rivers. She may, my lord ; for — 

Gloucester. She may, Lord Rivers ! why, who knows 
not so ? 
She may do more, sir, than denying that ; 
She may help you to many fair preferments, 95 

And then deny her aiding hand therein, 
And lay those honours on your high desert. 
What may she not ? She may — ay, marry may she, — 

Rivers. What, marry, may she ? 99 

Gloucester. What, marry, may she ! marry with a king, 
A bachelor, a handsome stripling too 
I wis your grandam had a worser match. 

Queen Elizabeth. My Lord of Gloucester, I have too 
long borne 
Your blunt upbraidings and your bitter scoffs : 
By heaven, I will acquaint his majesty 105 

89. suspects: suspicions. So in III, v, 32. 

102. I wis : assuredly. Not a true verb but a corruption of the 
Middle English adverb ywis, ' certainly.' 



28 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

With those gross taunts I often have endur'd. 
I had rather be a country servant-maid 
Than a great queen, with this condition, 
To be so baited, scorn'd, and stormed at. 

Enter old Queen Margaret 

Small joy have I in being England's Queen. no 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] And less'ned be that small, 
God, I beseech Him ! 
Thy honour, state, and seat is due to me. 

Gloucester. What ! threat you me with telling of the king ? 
Tell him, and spare not : look, what I have said 
I will avouch in presence of the king ; 115 

I dare adventure to be sent to th' Tower. 
'T is time to speak ; my pains are quite forgot. 

Queen Margaret. [Aside'] Out, devil ! I remember them 
too well ; 
Thou kill'dst my husband Henry in the Tower, 
And Edward, my poor son, at Tewksbury. 120 

Gloucester. Ere you were queen, ay, or your husband 
king, 
I was a pack-horse in his great affairs ; 
A weeder-out of his proud adversaries, 
A liberal rewarder of his friends : 
To royalize his blood I spilt mine own. 125 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] Ay, and much better blood 
than his or thine. 

Gloucester. In all which time you and your husband Grey 

109. so . . . stormed Ff I thus 119. kill'dst Ff | slew'st Qq. 

taunted, scorn'd and baited Qq. 121, 126. ay Ff | yea Qq. 

114. Tell . . . said Qq | Ff omit. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 29 

Were factious for the House of Lancaster ; 

And, Rivers, so were you. Was not your husband 

In Margaret's battle at Saint Alban's slain ? 130 

Let me put in your minds, if you forget, 

What you have been ere now, and what you are ; 

Withal, what I have been, and what I am. 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] A murderous villain, and so 
still thou art. 

Gloucester. Poor Clarence did forsake his father, War- 
wick; 135 
Ay, and forswore himself — which Jesu pardon ! — 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] Which God revenge ! 

Gloucester. To fight on Edward's party, for the crown ; 
And for his meed, poor lord, he is mew'd up. 
I would to God my heart were flint, like Edward's ; 140 

Or Edward's soft and pitiful, like mine : 
I am too childish-foolish for this world. 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] Hie thee to hell for shame, 
and leave this world, 
Thou cacodemon ! there thy kingdom is. 

Rivers. My Lord of Gloucester, in those busy days 145 
Which here you urge to prove us enemies, 

130. battle : army. A common use. Sir John Grey, the Queen's 
former husband, fell in what is known as the second battle of Saint 
Albans, which took place February 18, 1461. In that battle the 
Lancastrians were victorious, Queen Margaret being at the head of 
the army on that side. Their advantage, however, was much more 
than lost at the great battle of Towton, fought on the 29th of March 
following, and one of the fiercest and bloodiest in the long series of 
wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Upon this triumph of the 
Yorkists, many of the Lancastrians, and among them the Greys, 
were attainted, and stripped of their possessions. 

144. cacodemon : evil spirit. Properly it means ' unfortunate.' 



30 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

We follow'd then our lord, our lawful king ; 
So should we you, if you should be our king. 

Gloucester. If I should be ! I had rather be a pedlar ; 
Far be it from my heart, the thought of it 1 1 50 

Queen Elizabeth. As little joy, my lord, as you suppose 
You should enjoy, were you this country's king, 
As little joy may you suppose in me, 
That I enjoy, being the queen thereof. 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] As little joy enjoys the queen 
thereof; 155 

For I am 'she, and altogether joyless. 

I can no longer hold me patient. \Advancing\ 

Hear me, you wrangling pirates, that fall out 
In sharing that which you have pill'd from me ! 
Which of you trembles not that looks on me ? 160 

If not, that, I being queen, you bow like subjects, 
Yet that, by you depos'd, you quake like rebels ? 
Ah, gentle villain, do not turn away ! 

Gloucester. Foul wrinkled witch, what mak'st thou in 
my sight ? 

Queen Margaret. But repetition of what thou hast 
marr'd ; 165 

That will I make before I let thee go. 

Gloucester. Wert thou not banished on pain of death ? 

167-170. Gloucester . . . abode Ff | Qq omit. 

159. pill'd : robbed, pillaged. The word was often used with ' poll ' 
in the sense of ' strip bare of everything ' " Kildare did use to pill 
and poll his friendes, tenants, and reteyners." — Holinshed. 

164. mak'st : doest. The play on ' make ' and ' mar ' is common. 

167. Margaret fled into France after the battle of Hexham, in 
1464, and Edward issued a proclamation prohibiting any of his sub- 
jects from aiding her return, or harboring her, should she attempt 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 31 

Queen Margaret. I was ; 
But I do find more pain in banishment 
Than death can yield me here by my abode. 170 

A husband and a son thou owest to me, 
And thou a kingdom, all of you allegiance : 
The sorrow that I have, by right is yours ; 
And all the pleasures you usurp are mine. 

Gloucester. The curse my noble father laid on thee, 175 
When thou didst crown his warlike brows with paper, 
And with thy scorns drew'st rivers from his eyes ; 
And then, to dry them, gavest the duke a clout 
Steep'd in the faultless blood of pretty Rutland, — 
His curses, then from bitterness of soul 180 

Denounc'd against thee, are all fall'n upon thee ; 
And God, not we, hath plagu'd thy bloody deed. 

Queen Elizabeth. So just is God, to right the innocent. 

Hastings. O, 't was the foulest deed to slay that babe, 
And the most merciless that e'er was heard of ! 185 

Rivers. Tyrants themselves wept when it was reported. 

Dorset. No man but prophesied revenge for it. 

Buckingham. Northumberland, then present, wept to 
see it. 

Queen Margaret. What ! were you snarling all before 
I came, 
Ready to catch each other by the throat, 190 

to revisit England. She remained abroad till April, 147 1, when she 
landed at Weymouth. After the battle of Tewksbury, in May, 1471, 
she was confined in the Tower, where she continued a prisoner till 
1475, when she was ransomed by Louis XI, and removed to France, 
where she died in 1482. 

175-182. This scene is described at length in^ Henry VI, I, iv. 

177. scorns. For the plural form cf. Hamlet, III, i, 70. 



32 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

And turn you all your hatred now on me ? 

Did York's dread curse prevail so much with heaven, 

That Henry's death, my lovely Edward's death, 

Their kingdom's loss, my woeful banishment, 

Could all but answer for that peevish brat ? 195 

Can curses pierce the clouds and enter heaven ? 

Why, then give way, dull clouds, to my quick curses ! 

Though not by war, by surfeit die your king, 

As ours by murder, to make him a king 1 

Edward thy son, that now is Prince of Wales, 200 

For Edward my son, that was Prince of Wales, 

Die in his youth by like untimely violence ! 

Thyself a queen, for me that was a queen, 

Outlive thy glory, like my wretched self ! 

Long mayst thou live to wail thy children's loss ; 205 

And see another, as I see thee now, 

Deck'd in thy rights, as thou art stall'd in mine ! 

Long die thy happy days before thy death ; 

And, after many length'ned hours of grief, 

Die neither mother, wife, nor England's queen ! 210 

Rivers and Dorset, you were standers-by, 

And so wast thou, Lord Hastings, when my son 

Was stabb'd with bloody daggers ; God, I pray him, 

That none of you may live his natural age, 

But by some unlook'd accident cut off! 215 

Gloucester. Have done thy charm, thou hateful wither'd 
hag! 

Queen Margaret. And leave out thee? stay, dog, for 
thou shalt hear me. 
If heaven have any grievous plague in store 
Exceeding those that I can wish upon thee. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 33 

O, let them keep it till thy sins be ripe, 220 

And then hurl down their indignation 

On thee, the troubler of the poor world's peace ! 

The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul ! 

Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou liv'st, 

And take deep traitors for thy dearest friends ! 225 

No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine, 

Unless it be while some tormenting dream 

Affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils ! 

Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog ! 

Thou that wast seal'd in thy nativity 230 

The slave of nature and the son of hell ! 

Thou slander of thy heavy mother's womb ! 

Thou loathed issue of thy father's loins ! 

Thou rag of honour ! thou detested — 

Gloucester. Margaret. 

Queen Margaret. Richard ! 

Gloucester. Ha ! 

Queen Margaret. I call thee not. 235 

Gloucester. I cry thee mercy, then ; for I did think 
That thou hadst call'd me all these bitter names. 

Queen Margaret. Why, so I did; but look'd for no reply. 
O, let me make the period to my curse ! 239 

Gloucester. 'T is done by me, and ends in — Margaret. 

220. them. The reference is to 'heaven,' which is treated here 
as a plural. Cf. 'hell,' IV, iv, 71. 

229. elvish-mark'd. There was an old belief that deformities of 
person were the work of malignant or mischievous fairies or ' elves.' 
— hog. An allusion to his heraldic device, which was a white boar. 
"The expression," says Warburton, "is fine: remembering her 
youngest son, she alludes to the ravage which hogs make with 
the finest flowers in gardens." 



34 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Queen Elizabeth. Thus have you breath 'd your curse 

against yourself. 
Queen Margaret. Poor painted queen, vain flourish of 
my fortune ! 
Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider, 
Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about ? 
Fool, fool ! thou whett'st a knife to kill thyself. 245 

The day will come that thou shalt wish for me 
To help thee curse that poisonous bunch-back'd toad. 

Hastings. False-boding woman, end thy frantic curse, 
Lest to thy harm thou move our patience. 

Queen Margaret. Foul shame upon you ! you have all 

mov'd mine. 250 

Rivers. Were you well serv'd, you would be taught your 

duty. 
Queen Margaret. To serve me well, you all should do 
me duty, 
Teach me to be your queen, and you my subjects ; 
O, serve me well, and teach yourselves that duty ! 

Dorset. Dispute not with her; she is lunatic. 255 

Queen Margaret. Peace, master marquess, you are 
malapert ; 
Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current. 
O, that your young nobility could judge 
What 't were to lose it, and be miserable ! 
They that stand high have many blasts to shake them ; 260 
And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces. 

243. bottled spider : large bloated spider. An allusion to Richard's 
form and venom. Cf. IV, iv, 81, where the epithet 'bunch-back'd,' 
line 247, is also repeated. 

257. fire-new : brand-new, fresh from the mint. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 35 

Gloucester. Good counsel, marry ; learn it, learn it, 
marquess. 

Dorset. It touches you, my lord, as much as me. 

Gloucester. Ay, and much more ; but I was born so high : 
Our aerie buildeth in the cedar's top, 265 

And dallies with the wind, and scorns the sun. 

Queen Margaret. And turns the sun to shade ; alas ! alas ! 
Witness my son, now in the shade of death ; 
Whose bright out-shining beams thy cloudy wrath 
Hath in eternal darkness folded up. 270 

Your aerie buildeth in our aerie's nest. 
O God, that see'st it, do not suffer it ; 
As it was won with blood, lost be it so ! 

Rivers. Peace, peace, for shame, if not for charity. 

Queen Margaret. Urge neither charity nor shame to me; 
Uncharitably with me have you dealt, 276 

And shamefully by you my hopes are butcher'd. 
My charity is outrage, life my shame ; 
And in that shame still live my sorrow's rage ! 

Buckingham. Have done, have done. 280 

Queen Margaret. O princely Buckingham, I '11 kiss thy 
hand, 
In sign of league and amity with thee ; 
Now fair befall thee and thy noble house ! 
Thy garments are not spotted with our blood, 
Nor thou within the compass of my curse. 285 

274. Peace, peace Ff | Have done Qq Globe. 

265. aerie : sturdy brood. Originally ' nest of a bird of prey.' 
Cf. King John, V, ii, 149; Hamlet, II, ii, 354. 

278. My charity . . . shame : outrage is the only charity shown 
me, and a life of shame, dishonour, is all the life permitted me. 



36 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Buckingham. Nor no one here ; for curses never pass 
The lips of those that breathe them in the air. 

Queen Margaret. I '11 not believe but they ascend the sky, 
And there awake God's gentle-sleeping peace. 

Buckingham, take heed of yonder dog ! 290 
Look, when he fawns he bites ; and, when he bites, 

His venom tooth will rankle to the death. 

Have not to do with him, beware of him ; 

Sin, death, and hell have set their marks on him ; 

And all their ministers attend on him. 295 

Gloucester. What doth she say, my Lord of Buckingham? 

Buckingham. Nothing that I respect, my gracious lord. 

Queen Margaret. What, dost thou scorn me for my 
gentle counsel ? 
And soothe the devil that I warn thee from ? 
O, but remember this another day, 300 

When he shall split thy very heart with sorrow, 
And say, poor Margaret was a prophetess ! 
Live each of you the subjects to his hate, 
And he to yours, and all of you to God's ! [Exit] 304 

Hastings. My hair doth stand on end to hear her curses. 

Rivers. And so doth mine : I muse why she 's at liberty. 

Gloucester. I cannot blame her : by God's holy mother, 
She hath had too much wrong ; and I repent 
My part thereof that I have done to her. 309 

Queen Elizabeth. I never did her any, to my knowledge. 

Gloucester. Yet you have all the vantage of her wrong. 

1 was too hot to do somebody good 
That is too cold in thinking of it now. 

305. Hastings Qq | Buc. (Buckingham) Ff. 
306. muse : marvel, wonder. The Quartos read ' wonder.' 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD $7 

Marry, as for Clarence, he is well repaid ; 

He is frank'd up to fatting for his pains: 315 

God pardon them that are the cause of it ! 

Rivers. A virtuous and a Christian-like conclusion, 
To pray for them that have done scathe to us. 

Gloucester. So do I ever, being well advis'd ; 
[Aside] For, had I curs'd now, I had curs'd myself. 320 

Enter Catesby 

Catesby. Madam, his majesty doth call for you, 
And for your grace, and you, my noble lords. 

Queen Elizabeth. Catesby, I come. Lords, will you go 
with me ? 

Rivers. We wait upon your grace. 

[Exeunt all but Gloucester] 

Gloucester. I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl. 325 
The secret mischiefs that I set abroach 
I lay unto the grievous charge of others. 
Clarence, whom I indeed have laid in darkness, 
I do beweep to many simple gulls ; 

Namely, to Hastings, Derby, Buckingham ; 330 

And say it is the queen and her allies 
That stir the king against the duke my brother. 
Now, they believe it ; and withal whet me 
To be reveng'd on Rivers, Vaughan, Grey : 
But then I sigh ; and, with a piece of scripture, 335 

Tell them that God bids us do good for evil : 

324. We wait upon Ff | Madam, we will attend Qq. 

315. frank'd. A ' frank ' was a hog-sty. Cf. 2 Henry IV, II, ii, 160. 

318. scathe : harm. From the Anglo-Saxon verb scea&an. 

319. being well advis'd : having well considered. As in II, i, 106. 



38 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

And thus I clothe my naked villainy 

With old odd ends stol'n out of holy writ ; 

And seem a saint, when most I play the devil 

But, soft ! here come my executioners. 340 

Enter two Murderers 

How now, my hardy, stout, resolved mates ! 
Are you now going to dispatch this thing ? 

1 Murderer. We are, my lord ; and come to have the 
warrant, 
That we may be admitted where he is. 

Gloucester. Well thought upon ; I have it here about 
me. [Gives the warrant] 345 

When you have done, repair to Crosby Place. 
But, sirs, be sudden in the execution, 
Withal obdurate, do not hear him plead ; 
For Clarence is well-spoken, and perhaps 
May move your hearts to pity, if you mark him. 350 

1 Murderer. Tut, tut, my lord, we will not stand to prate ; 
Talkers are no good doers : be assur'd 
We go to use our hands and not our tongues. 

Gloucester. Your eyes drop millstones, when fools' eyes 
drop tears. 
I like you, lads ; about your business straight ; 355 

Go, go, dispatch. 

1 Murderer. We will, my noble lord. [Exeunt] 

343, 35i, 356. 1 Murderer | Exec. Qq I Vil. Ff. 

354. eyes drop millstones. ' Weeping millstones ' was a proverbial 
phrase used of persons not apt to weep. Cf. I, iv, 237. In the 
tragedy of Ceesar and Pompey (1607) occurs the line: "Men's eyes 
must mill-stones drop, when fools shed tears." 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 39 

Scene IV. [London. The Tower] 

Enter Clarence and Keeper 

Keeper. Why looks your grace so heavily to-day ? 

Clarence. O, I have pass'd a miserable night, 
So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams, 
That, as I am a Christian faithful man, 
I would not spend another such a night, 5 

Though 't were to buy a world of happy days, 
So full of dismal terror was the time ! 

Keeper. What was your dream, my lord ? I pray you, 
tell me. 

Clarence. Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower, 
And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy ; 10 

And, in my company, my brother Gloucester ; 
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk 
Upon the hatches : thence we look'd toward England, 
And cited up a thousand fearful times, 
During the wars of York and Lancaster, 15 

That had befall'n us. As we pac'd along 
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches, 
Methought that Gloucester stumbled ; and, in falling, 
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard 
Into the tumbling billows of the main. 20 

Lord, Lord ! methought, what pain it was to drown ! 
What dreadful noise of water in mine ears ! 

9-10. Methoughts . . . cross to Ff I Me thoughts I was imbarkt for Qq. 

1. Keeper. So in the Folios; the Quartos assign the Keeper's 
speeches to Brakenbury., 

10. Burgundy. Margaret, sister of Clarence and Richard had 
married Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. 



40 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

What ugly sights of death within mine eyes ! 

Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks ; 

A thousand men that fishes gnavv'd upon ; 25 

Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, 

Inestimable stones, unvalu'd jewels, 

All scatt'red in the bottom of the sea : 

Some lay in dead men's skulls ; and, in those holes 

Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept, 30 

As 't were in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems, 

That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep, 

And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter 'd by. 

Keeper. Had you such leisure in the time of death 
To gaze upon the secrets of the deep ? 35 

Clarence. Methought I had ; and often did I strive 
To yield the ghost : but still the envious flood 
Stopp'd in my soul, and would not let it forth 
To seek the empty, vast, and wandering air ; 
But smother'd it within my panting bulk, 40 

Which almost burst to belch it in the sea. 

Keeper. Awak'd you not with this sore agony ? 

38. Stopp'd Ff I Kept Qq. 39- seek Qq | find Ff. 

27. unvalu'd : invaluable, past valuing, inestimable. 
37. envious : malicious. As in I, iii, 26. 

39. vast: void, waste. The original (Latin) meaning. — wander- 
ing air : aerial expanse. Where the soul would be free to use its 
wings and roam at large. Cf. the description of Raphael's voyage 
to the earth, Paradise Lost, V, 267-270 : 

He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky 
Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing, 
Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan 
Winnows the buxom air. 

40. bulk : body, trunk. See Murray. Cf. Hamlet, II, i, 95. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 41 

Clarence. No, no, my dream was lengthen'd after life ; 
O, then began the tempest to my soul ! 
I pass'd, methought, the melancholy flood, 45 

With that grim ferryman which poets write of, 
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. 
The first that there did greet my stranger soul 
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick ; 
Who cried aloud, * What scourge for perjury 50 

Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence ? ' 
And so he vanish'd. Then came wandering by 
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair 
Dabbled in blood ; and he shriek 'd out aloud, 
1 Clarence is come, false, fleeting, perjur'd Clarence, 55 

That stabb'd me in the field by Tewksbury : 
Seize on him, Furies, take him to your torments ! ' 
With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends 
Environ'd me, and howled in mine ears 
Such hideous cries, that with the very noise 60 

I trembling wak'd, and for a season after 
Could not believe but that I was in hell, 
Such terrible impression made my dream. 

Keeper. No marvel, lord, though it affrighted you ; 
I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it. 65 

Clarence. Ah! Keeper, Keeper, I have done those things, 
That now give evidence against my soul, 
For Edward's sake ; and see how he requites me ! 
O God ! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee, 
But thou wilt be aveng'd on my misdeeds, 70 

54. shriek'd Ff I squakt Qi | 66. Ah '....Keeper Ff | O Broken- 
squeakt Q2Q3 I squeak'd Globe Camb. bury Qq. 

55. fleeting : inconstant. Cf. Antony and Cleopatra, V, ii, 240. 



42 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Yet execute thy will on me alone ; 

O, spare my guiltless wife and my poor children ! 

Keeper, I prithee, sit by me awhile ; 

My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep. 

Keeper. I will, my lord. God give your grace good rest ! 
[Clarence sleeps in a chair\ 75 

Enter Brakenbury, the Lieutenant 

Brakenbury. Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours, 
Makes the night morning, and the noontide night. 
Princes have but their titles for their glories, 
An outward honour for an inward toil ; 
And, for unfelt imaginations, 80 

They often feel a world of restless cares : 
So that, between their titles and low name, 
There 's nothing differs but the outward fame. 

Enter the two Murderers 

1 Murderer. Ho ! who 's here ? 

Brakenbury. What wouldst thou, fellow? and how 
cam'st thou hither? 85 

1 Murderer. I would speak with Clarence, and I came 
hither on my legs. 

Brakenbury. What, so brief ? 

2 Murderer. 'Tis better, sir, than to be tedious. Let 
him see our commission ; and talk no more. 90 

[1 Murderer gives a paper to Brakenbury, who reads it] 

85. What . . . hither Ff I In Gods name what are you and how came 
you hither Qq. 

80. unfelt imaginations : pleasures of imagination never experi- 
enced. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 43 

Brakenbury. I am, in this, commanded to deliver 
The noble Duke of Clarence to your hands. 
I will not reason what is meant hereby, 
Because I will be guiltless of the meaning. 
Here are the keys ; there sits the duke asleep : 95 

I '11 to the king ; and signify to him 
That thus I have resign'd to you my charge. 

1 Murderer. You may, sir ; 't is a point of wisdom : 
fare you well. Exit [Brakenbury with Keeper] 

2 Murderer. What, shall we stab him as he sleeps ? 100 

1 Murderer. No ; he '11 say 't was done cowardly, when 
he wakes. 

2 Murderer. When he wakes ! why, fool, he shall never 
wake till the judgment-day. 

1 Murderer. Why, then he '11 say we stabb'd him 
sleeping. 106 

2 Murderer. The urging of that word ' judgment ' hath 
bred a kind of remorse in me. 

1 Murderer. What, art thou afraid ? 

2 Murderer. Not to kill him, having a warrant for it; 
but to be damn'd for killing him, from the which no warrant 
can defend me. 112 

1 Murderer. I thought thou hadst been resolute. 

2 Murderer. So I am, to let him live. 

1 Murderer. I '11 back to the Duke of Gloucester, and 
tell him so. 116 

2 Murderer. Nay, I prithee, stay a little: I hope my 
holy humour will change ; it was wont to hold me but while 
one tells twenty. 

103. When . . . fool Qq | Why Ff. 117-118. niy . . . humour Qq | this 

113-114. Qq omit. passionate humor of mine Ff. 



44 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

i Murderer. How dost thou feel thyself now? 120 

2 Murderer. Faith, some certain dregs of conscience 
are yet within me. 

1 Murderer. Remember our reward, when the deed 's 
done. 

2 Murderer. 'Zounds, he dies ; I had forgot the reward. 

1 Murderer. Where 's thy conscience now ? 126 

2 Murderer. In the Duke of Gloucester's purse. 

1 Murderer. So, when he opens his purse to give us 
our reward, thy conscience flies out. 

2 Murderer. 'T is no matter ; let it go ; there 's few or 
none will entertain it. 131 

1 Murderer. What if it come to thee again ? 

2 Murderer. I '11 not meddle with it : it is a dangerous 
thing : it makes a man a coward : a man cannot steal, but 
it accuseth him ; a man cannot swear, but it checks him ; a 
man cannot lie with his neighbour's wife, but it detects him : 
't is a blushing shamefac'd spirit that mutinies in a man's 
bosom ; it fills one full of obstacles : it made me once restore 
a purse of gold, that by chance I found ; it beggars any man 
that keeps it ; it is turn'd out of all towns and cities for a 
dangerous thing; and every man that means to live well 
endeavours to trust to himself and live without it. 142 

1 Murderer. 'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow, per- 
suading me not to kill the duke. 

2 Murderer. Take the devil in thy mind, and believe him 
not ; he would insinuate with thee but to make thee sigh. 

125. 'Zounds Qq | Come Ff. 133-134. it . . . thing Qq | Ff omit. 

143. 'Zounds, it is Qq | 'T is Ff. 

125. 'Zounds. Corrupted from 'God's wounds.' In 1606 a statute 
was passed forbidding irreverent language on the stage. 
145. him. Refers to ' conscience ' not to ' devil.' 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 45 

1 Murderer. I am strong-fram'd ; he cannot prevail 
with me. 

2 Murderer. Spoke like a tall fellow that respects his 
reputation. Come, shall we fall to work ? 1 50 

1 Murderer. Take him over the costard with the hilts 
of thy sword, and then throw him into the malmsey-butt in 
the next room. 

2 Murderer. O excellent device ! and make a sop of him. 

1 Murderer. Soft! he wakes. 155 

2 Murderer. Strike ! 

1 Murderer. No, we '11 reason with him. 

Clarence. [ Waking] Where art thou, keeper ? give me 
a cup of wine. 

1 Murderer. You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon. 

Clarence. In God's name, what art thou ? 160 

1 Murderer. A man, as you are. 

Clarence. But not, as I am, royal. 

1 Murderer. Nor you, as we are, loyal. 

Clarence. Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks are humble. 

1 Murderer. My voice is now the king's, my looks 
mine own. 165 

Clarence. How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak ! 
Your eyes do menace me ; why look you pale ? 
Who sent you hither ? Wherefore do you come ? 

Both Murderers. To, to, to — 

Clarence. To murder me ? 170 

Both Murderers. Ay, ay. 

150. fall to work Ff I to this gear Qq. 

152. throw him into Ff I we will chop him in Qq. 

167. Your . . . pale Ff | Qq omit. 

151. costard : head. A humorous use ; properly a kind of apple. 
157. reason : talk, converse. So in II, iii, 39 ; IV, iv, 533. 



46 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Clarence. You scarcely have the hearts to tell me so, 
And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it. 
Wherein, my friends, have I offended you ? V 

i Murderer. Offended us you have not, but the king 
Clarence. I shall be reconcil'd to him again. 176 

2 Murderer. Never, my lord ; therefore prepare to die. 
Clarence. Are you call'd forth from out a world of men 
To slay the innocent ? What is my offence ? 
Where is the evidence that doth accuse me ? 180 

What lawful quest have given their verdict up 
Unto the frowning judge ? or who pronounc'd 
The bitter sentence of poor Clarence' death ? 
Before I be convict by course of law, 

To threaten me with death is most unlawful. 185 

I charge you, as you hope to have redemption 
By Christ's dear blood shed for our grievous sins, 
That you depart, and lay no hands on me ; 
The deed you undertake is damnable. 189 

1 Murderer. What we will do, we do upon command. 

2 Murderer. And he that hath commanded is our king. 
Clarence. Erroneous vassals ! the great King of kings 

Hath in the table of his law commanded 

That thou shalt do no murder ; will you, then, 

Spurn at his edict, and fulfil a man's ? 195 

Take heed ; for he holds vengeance in his hand, 

To hurl upon their heads that break his law. 

178. call'd . . . out Qq | drawne that do Qq. 
. . . among Ff. 186-187. to have . . . sins Qq | for 

180. is . . . that doth Ff I are . . . any goodnesse Ff. 

181. quest: jury of inquest, a body of jurymen. Clarence's exe- 
cution was carried out only after trial and condemnation. 

184. convict: convicted. Cf. 'graft,' III, vii, 127; ' acquit,' V, v, 3. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 47 

2 Murderer. And that same vengeance doth he hurl on 
thee, 
For false forswearing, and for murder too. 
Thou didst receive the sacrament to fight 200 

In quarrel of the house of Lancaster. 

1 Murderer. And, like a traitor to the name of God, 
Didst break that vow ; and with thy treacherous blade 
Unripp'dst the bowels of thy sovereign's son. 

2 Murderer. Whom thou wast sworn to cherish and 

defend. 205 

1 Murderer. How canst thou urge God's dreadful law 
to us, 

When thou hast broke it in such dear degree ? 

Clarence. Alas ! for whose sake did I that ill deed ? 

For Edward, for my brother, for his sake. 

He sends you not to murder me for this, 210 

For in that sin he is as deep as I. 

If God will be avenged for the deed, 

O, know you yet, He doth it publicly : 

Take not the quarrel from his powerful arm ; 

He needs no indirect nor lawless course 2 1 5 

To cut off those that have offended him. 

1 Murderer. Who made thee, then, a bloody minister, 

When gallant-springing brave Plantagenet, 

That princely novice, was struck dead by thee ? 

Clarence. My brother's love, the devil, and my rage. 220 
1 Murderer. Thy brother's love, our duty, and thy fault, 

Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee. 

Clarence. If you do love my brother, hate not me ; 

213. . . . publicly Ff I Qq omit. 221. our duty Ff | the diuell Qq. 

210. Before this line the Quartos insert ' Why, sirs.' 



48 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

I am his brother, and I love him well. 

If you are hir'd for meed, go back again, 225 

And I will send you to my brother Gloucester, 

Who shall reward you better for my life 

Than Edward will for tidings of my death. 

2 Murderer. You are deceiv'd, your brother Gloucester 
hates you. 

Clarence. O, no, he loves me, and he holds me dear ; 230 
Go you to him from me. 

Both Murderers Ay, so we will. 

Clarence. Tell him, when that our princely father York 
Bless'd his three sons with his victorious arm, 
And charg'd us from his soul to love each other, 
He little thought of this divided friendship. 235 

Bid Gloucester think of this, and he will weep. 

1 Murderer. Ay, millstones ; as he lesson'd us to weep. 

Clarence. O, do not slander him, for he is kind. 

1 Murderer. Right, 
As snow in harvest. Come, you deceive yourself ; 240 

'T is he that sends us to destroy you here. 

Clarence. It cannot be ; for he bewept my fortune, 
And hugg'd me in his arms, and swore, with sobs, 
That he would labour my delivery. 

1 Murderer. Why, so he doth, when he delivers you 245 
From this earth's thraldom to the joys of heaven. 

2 Murderer. Make peace with God, for you must die, 

my lord. 
Clarence. Hast thou that holy feeling in thy soul, 
To counsel me to make my peace with God, 

234. And . . . other Qq | Ff omit. 

242-243. for . . . And Ff | for when I parted from him He Qq. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 49 

And art thou yet to thy own soul so blind, 250 

That thou wilt war with God by murdering me ? 

Ah, sirs, consider, he that set you on 

To do this deed will hate you for the deed. 

2 Murderer. What shall we do ? 

Clarence. Relent, and save your souls. 

1 Murderer. Relent! 't is cowardly and womanish. 255 
Clarence. Not to relent is beastly, savage, devilish. 

Which of you, if you were a prince's son, 

Being pent from liberty, as I am now, 

If two such murderers as yourselves came to you, 

Would not entreat for life ? 260 

My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks. 

O, if thine eye be not a flatterer, 

Come thou on my side, and entreat for me, 

As you would beg, were you in my distress : 

A begging prince what beggar pities not ? 265 

2 Murderer. Look behind you, my lord. 

1 Murderer. Take that, and that : if all this will not do, 

Stabs him 
I '11 drown you in the malmsey-butt within. 

Exit [with the body] 

2 Murderer. A bloody deed, and desperately dispatch'd! 
How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands 270 
Of this most grievous murder ! 

256-265. The present text is based on Tyrwhitt's famous arrange- 
ment of lines which are found partly in the First Quarto and partly 
in the Folios, and which, as originally printed, are obviously out of 
their regular order. 

262. . . . flatterer : unless your heart is more hardened than 
your eyes would lead me to believe. 

268. malmsey-butt : cask of malmsey wine. 



50 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act i 

Re-enter i Murderer 

i Murderer. How now ! what mean'st thou, that thou 
help'st me not ? 
By heaven, the duke shall know how slack thou art. 

2 Murderer. I would he knew that I had sav'd his 
brother ! 
Take thou the fee, and tell him what I say ; 275 

For I repent me that the duke is slain. Exit 

1 Murderer. So do not I ; go, coward as thou art. 
Well, I '11 go hide the body in some hole, 
Till that the duke give order for his burial ; 
And when I have my meed, I will away, 280 

For this will out, and then I must not stay. Exit 

278. Well ... the Ff I Now must Duke take Qq. 

I hide his Qq. 280. will Ff | must Qq. 

279. Till . . . give Ff I Until the 281. then Ff | here Qq. 

277-281. The Duke of Clarence was arraigned for treason before 
the Parliament, convicted, and sentence of death passed upon him. 
This was in February, 1478, and a few days later it was announced 
that he had died in the Tower. So that this first act of the play em- 
braces a period of nearly seven years, the death of King Henry 
having occurred in May, 1471. The manner of Clarence's death has 
never been ascertained. It was generally attributed to the machina- 
tions of Richard. There was a fierce grudge between the two dukes, 
growing out of their rapacity towards the Warwick estates. 



ACT II 

Scene I. [London. The palacc\ 

Flourish. E?iter King Edward, sick, Queen Elizabeth, 
Dorset, Rivers, Hastings, Buckingham, Woodville 
[Grey, and others] 

King Edward. Why, so ; now have I done a good day's 
work ; 
You peers, continue this united league. 
I every day expect an embassage 
From my Redeemer to redeem me hence ; 
And now in peace my soul shall part to heaven, 5 

Since I have made my friends at peace on earth. 
Rivers and Hastings, take each other's hand ; 
Dissemble not your hatred, swear your love. 

Rivers. By heaven, my soul is purg'd from grudging hate ; 
And with my hand I seal my true heart's love. 10 

Hastings. So thrive I, as I truly swear the like ! 

King Edward. Take heed you dally not before your king; 
Lest he that is the supreme King of kings 
Confound your hidden falsehood, and award 
Either of you to be the other's end. 15 

Hastings. So prosper I, as I swear perfect love ! 

Rivers. And I, as I love Hastings with my heart I 

6. made Ff I set Qq. 9. soul Ff | heart Qq. 

5. part : depart. The shorter form is common in Shakespeare. 
5i 



52 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

King Edward. Madam, yourself are not exempt in this, 
Nor you, son Dorset, Buckingham, nor you ; 
You have been factious one against the other. 20 

Wife, love Lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand ; 
And what you do, do it unfeignedly. 

Queen Elizabeth. There, Hastings, I will never more 
remember 
Our former hatred, so thrive I and mine ! 

King Edward. Dorset, embrace him ; Hastings, love 
lord marquess. 25 

Dorset. This interchange of love, I here protest, 
Upon my part shall be inviolable. 

Hastings. And so swear I, my lord. \They embrace~\ 

King Edward. Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou 
this league 
With thy embracements to my wife's allies, 30 

And make me happy in your unity. 

Buckingham. [To the Queen] Whenever Buckingham 
doth turn his hate 
Upon your grace, but with all duteous love 
Doth cherish you and yours, God punish me 
With hate in those where I expect most love ! 35 

When I have most need to employ a friend, 
And most assured that he is a friend, 
Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile, 
Be he unto me ! this do I beg of God, 
When I am cold in zeal to you or yours. They e??ibrace 40 

King Edward. A pleasing cordial, princely Buckingham, 

25. Dorset . . . marquess Ff I Qq 33. Upon . . . grace Ff | On you or 

omit. yours Qq. 

30. embracements. This form is common in Shakespeare. 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD 53 

Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart. 

There wanteth now our brother Gloucester here, 

To make the perfect period of this peace. 

Buckingham. And, in good time, here comes the noble 
duke. 45 

Enter Gloucester 

Gloucester. Good morrow to my sovereign king and 
queen ; 
And, princely peers, a happy time of day ! 

King Edward. Happy, indeed, as we have spent the day. 
Brother, we have done deeds of charity ; 
Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate, 50 

Between these swelling wrong-incensed peers. 

Gloucester. A blessed labour, my most sovereign liege. 
Among this princely heap, if any here, 
By false intelligence or wrong surmise, hold me 
A foe ; if I unwittingly, or in my rage, 55 

Have aught committed that is hardly borne 
By any in this presence, I desire 
To reconcile me to his friendly peace. 
'T is death to me to be at enmity ; 

I hate it, and desire all good men's love. 60 

First, madam, I entreat true peace of you, 
Which I will purchase with my duteous service ; 
Of you, my noble cousin Buckingham, 
If ever any grudge were lodg'd between us ; 
Of you, Lord Rivers, and, Lord Grey, of you, 65 

45. the noble Qq | Sir Richard 55. unwittingly Qq | unwillingly 

Ratcliffe and the Ff. Ff. 

53. heap: throng, gathering. Cf. Juliics C&sar, I, iii, 22-24. 



54 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

That all without desert have frown 'd on me ; 

Dukes, earls, lords, gentlemen ; indeed, of all. 

I do not know that Englishman alive 

With whom my soul is any jot at odds 

More than the infant that is born to-night ; 70 

I thank my God for my humility. 

Queen Elizabeth. A holy day shall this be kept hereafter ; 
I would to God all strifes were well compounded. 
My sovereign lord, I do beseech your highness 
To take our brother Clarence to your grace. 75 

Gloucester. Why, madam, have I off' red love for this, 
To be so flouted in this royal presence ? 
Who knows not that the gentle duke is dead ? They all start 
You do him injury to scorn his corse. 

King Edward. Who knows not he is dead ! who knows 
he is ? 80 

Queen Elizabeth. All-seeing heaven, what a world is this ! 

Buckingham. Look I so pale, Lord Dorset, as the rest ? 

Dorset. Ay, my good lord ; and no one in this presence 
But his red colour hath forsook his cheeks. 84 

King Edward. Is Clarence dead ? the order was revers'd. 

Gloucester. But he, poor man, by your first order died, 
And that a winged Mercury did bear ; 
Some tardy cripple bore the countermand, 
That came too lag to see him buried. 

God grant that some, less noble and less loyal, 90 

Nearer in bloody thoughts, but not in blood, 
Deserve not worse than wretched Clarence did, 
And yet go current from suspicion ! 

66. The Folios add ' Of you Lord Woodvill, and Lord Scales of 
you.' Both titles belonged to Earl Rivers. 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD 55 

Enter Stanley 

Stanley. A boon, my sovereign, for my service done ! 

King Edward. I pray thee, peace; my soul is full of 
sorrow. 95 

Stanley. I will not rise, unless your highness hear me. 

King Edward. Then speak at once what is it thou de- 
mand'st. 

Stanley. The forfeit, sovereign, of my servant's life ; 
Who slew to-day a riotous gentleman 
Lately attendant on the Duke of Norfolk. 100 

King Edward. Have I a tongue to doom my brother's 
death, 
And shall that tongue give pardon to a slave ? 
My brother kill'd no man ; his fault was thought, 
And yet his punishment was bitter death. 
Who sued to me for him ? who, in my rage, 105 

Kneel'd at my feet, and bade me be advis'd ? 
Who spoke of brotherhood ? who spoke of love ? 
Who told me how the poor soul did forsake 
The mighty Warwick, and did fight for me ? 
Who told me, in the field at Tewksbury, no 

When Oxford had me down, he rescued me, 
And said, ' Dear brother, live, and be a king ' ? 
Who told me, when we both lay in the field 
Frozen almost to death, how he did lap me 
Even in his own garments, and gave himself, 1 1 5 

All thin and naked, to the numb cold night ? 

94. Enter Stanley. Here as in I, iii, 17, the Quartos and Folios 
have 'Derby' (Darbie, etc.). The emendation is Theobald's. 
98. The forfeit: the thing forfeited (his servant's life). 



56 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

All this from my remembrance brutish wrath 

Sinfully pluck'd, and not a man of you 

Had so much grace to put it in my mind. 

But when your carters or your waiting-vassals 120 

Have done a drunken slaughter, and defac'd 

The precious image of our dear Redeemer, 

You straight are on your knees for pardon, pardon ; 

And I, unjustly too, must grant it you. 

But for my brother not a man would speak, 125 

Nor I, ungracious, speak unto myself 

For him, poor soul. The proudest of you all 

Have been beholding to him in his life ; 

Yet none of you would once plead for his life. 

O Qod, I fear thy justice will take hold 130 

On me and you, and mine and yours for this ! 

Come, Hastings, help me to my closet. Ah, 

Poor Clarence 1 

Exeunt some with King and Queen 

Gloucester. This is the fruit of rashness ! Mark'd you 
not 
How that the guilty kindred of the queen 135 

Look'd pale when they did hear of Clarence' death ? 
O, they did urge it still unto the king ! 
God will revenge it. But, come, let us in, 
To comfort Edward with our company. 

Buckingham. We wait upon your grace. Exeunt 140 

138. But ... in Oq I Come Lords 140. We . . . grace Ff | Qq omit, 

will you go Ff. 

128. beholding : beholden. So in III, i, 107. See Murray. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 57 

Scene II. [The palace] 

E?iter the old Duchess of York, with the two Children of 
Clarence 

Boy. Good grandam, tell us, is our father dead ? 

Duchess. No, boy. 

Girl. Why do you weep so oft, and beat your breast, 
And cry, ' O Clarence, my unhappy son ! ' 

Boy. Why do you look on us, and shake your head, 5 
And call us orphans, wretches, castaways, 
If that our noble father be alive ? 

Duchess. My pretty cousins, you mistake me both ; 
I do lament the sickness of the king, 

As loth to lose him, not your father's death ; 10 

It were lost sorrow to wail one that 's lost. 

Boy. Then, grandam, you conclude that he is dead. 
The king my uncle is to blame for this : 
God will revenge it ; whom I will importune 
With daily prayers all to that effect. 1 5 

Girl. And so will I. 

Duchess. Peace, children, peace ! the king doth love 
you well. 

3. Girl I Daugh. Ff | Boy Qq.— weep 8. both Ff | much Qq. 

so oft, and Ff | wring your hands and Qq. 16. And . . . I Ff I Qq omit. 

1. Enter the old Duchess of York. Cicely, daughter of Ralph 
Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, and widow of Richard, Duke of 
York, who was killed at the battle of Wakefield, 1460. She survived 
her husband thirty-five years, living till the year 1495. 

8. cousins. The duchess is speaking to her grandchildren, 
'cousin' being used for this relation as well as for 'nephew,' 
'niece,' and 'kindred' generally. 



58 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Incapable and shallow innocents, 

You cannot guess who caus'd your father's death. 

Boy. Grandam, we can ; for my good uncle Gloucester 
Told me, the king, provok'd to 't by the queen, 21 

Devis'd impeachments to imprison him : 
And, when my uncle told me so, he wept, 
And pitied me, and kindly kiss'd my cheek ; 
Bade me rely on him as on my father, 25 

And he would love me dearly as his child. 

Duchess. Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle shapes, 
And with a virtuous vizard hide deep vice ! 
He is my son ; ay, and therein my shame ; 
Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit. 30 

Boy. Think you my uncle did dissemble, grandam ? 

Duchess. Ay, boy. 

Boy. I cannot think it. Hark ! what noise is this ? 

Enter Queen Elizabeth, with her hair about her ears; 
Rivers and Dorset after her 

Queen Elizabeth. O, who shall hinder me to wail and 
weep, 
To chide my fortune, and torment myself ? 35 

I '11 join with black despair against my soul, 
And to myself become an enemy. 

24. pitied me Ff | hug'd me in his arme Qq. 28. deep vice Ff I foule guile. 

18. Incapable: unconscious. Cf. Hamlet, IV, vii, 179: "As one 
incapable of her own distress." 

28. vizard. Another form of 'visor.' "In the forms 'visard,' 
'vizard,' the final ' d ' is excrescent and unoriginal." — Skeat. 

31. dissemble : act deceitfully. Cf. ' dissembling,' I, i, 19, and see 
note. Cf. also ' dissembler,' I, ii, 184. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 59 

Duchess. What means this scene of rude impatience ? 

Queen Elizabeth. To make an act of tragic violence. 
Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead ! 40 

Why grow the branches when the root is gone ? 
Why wither not the leaves that want their sap ? 
If you will live, lament ; if die, be brief, 
That our swift-winged souls may catch the king's ; 
Or, like obedient subjects, follow him 45 

To his new kingdom of perpetual rest. 

Duchess. Ah, so much interest have I in thy sorrow 
As I had title in thy noble husband ! 
I have bewept a worthy husband's death, 
And liv'd by looking on his images ; 50 

But now two mirrors of his princely semblance 
Are crack'd in pieces by malignant death, 
And I for comfort have but one false glass, 
That grieves me when I see my shame in him. 
Thou art a widow ; yet thou art a mother, 55 

And hast the comfort of thy children left thee ; 
But death hath snatch'd my husband from mine arms, 
And pluck'd two crutches from my feeble hands, 
Clarence and Edward. O, what cause have I, 
Thine being but a moiety of my grief, 60 

To over-go thy plaints and drown thy cries ! 

41. when . . . gone Ff I now 46. perpetual rest Qq | nere-changing 
the root is wither'd Qq. night Ff . 

42. that ... sap Ff I the sap 58. hands Ff I limmes Qq. 
being gone Qq. 61. plaints Qq | woes Ff. 

38. scene. The metaphor is from the theater (cf. * act,' line 39). 
— impatience. The endings Mence' and Mance,' as well as '-ion,' 
'-ian,' and '-ious,' are often dissyllabic. See Abbott, § 479. 

50. images : children (who represented and resembled him) 



60 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Boy. Ah, aunt, you wept not for our father's death ! 
How can we aid you with our kindred tears ? 

Girl. Our fatherless distress was left unmoan'd ; 
Your widow-dolour likewise be unwept ! 65 

Queen Elizabeth. Give me no help in lamentation ; 
I am not barren to bring forth complaints ; 
All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes, 
That I, being govern'd by the watery moon, 
May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world ! 70 

Ah for my husband, for my dear lord Edward ! 

Children. Ah for our father, for our dear lord Clarence ! 

Duchess. Alas for both, both mine, Edward and Clarence ! 

Queen Elizabeth. What stay had I but Edward ? and 
he 's gone. 74 

Children. What stay had we but Clarence ? and he 's gone. 

Duchess. What stays had I but they ? and they are gone. 

Queen Elizabeth. Was never widow had so dear a loss ! 

Children. Were never orphans had so dear a loss ! 

Duchess. Was never mother had so dear a loss ! 
Alas, I am the mother of these griefs ! 80 

Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general. 
She for an Edward weeps, and so do I ; 
I for a Clarence weep, so doth not she : 
These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I ; 
I for an Edward weep, so do not they : 85 

Alas, you three, on me, threefold distress'd, 
Pour all your tears ! I am your sorrow's nurse, 
And I will pamper it with lamentations. 

84-85. and . . . weep Qq | Ff omit. 

68. reduce: lead back. The original (Latin) meaning. SoinV,v,36. 

69. Cf. "the governess of floods": A Midsummer Night's Dream, 
II, i, 103. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 6l 

Dorset. Comfort, dear mother ; God is much displeas'd 
That you take with unthankfulness his doing. 90 

In common worldly things 't is call'd ungrateful 
With dull unwillingness to repay a debt 
Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent ; 
Much more to be thus opposite with heaven, 
For it requires the royal debt it lent you. 95 

Rivers. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother, 
Of the young prince your son : send straight for him ; 
Let him be crown'd ; in him your comfort lives. 
Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave, 
And plant your joys in living Edward's throne. 100 

Enter Gloucester, Buckingham, Stanley, Hastings, 
Ratcliff [and others] 

Gloucester. Sister, have comfort : all of us have cause 
To wail the dimming of our shining star ; 
But none can cure their harms by wailing them. 
Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy ; 
I did not see your grace. Humbly on my knee 105 

I crave your blessing. 

Duchess. God bless thee ; and put meekness in thy breast, 
Love, charity, obedience, and true duty ! 

Gloucester. Amen; [Aside] and make me die a good 
old man! 
That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing; no 

I marvel that her grace did leave it out. 

89-100. Comfort . . . throne Ff | Qq omit. 

94. opposite: at enmity. Cf. IV, iv, 215, 402. 

95. For : because. See note, I, i, 58. 

104. cry you mercy : ask your pardon. So in IV, iv, 51 5 ; V, iii, 224. 



62 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Buckingham. You cloudy princes and heart-sorrowing 
peers, 
That bear this mutual heavy load of moan, 
Now cheer each other in each other's love. 
Though we have spent our harvest of this king, 1 1 5 

We are to reap the harvest of his son. 
The broken rancour of your high-swoln hearts, 
But lately splinter'd, knit, and join'd together, 
Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept. 
Me seemeth good, that, with some little train, 120 

Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fet 
Hither to London, to be crown'd our king. 

Rivers. Why with some little train, my Lord of Buck- 
ingham ? 

Buckingham. Marry, my lord, lest, by a multitude, 
The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out; 125 

Which would be so much the more dangerous, 
By how much the estate is green and yet ungovern'd. 
Where every horse bears his commanding rein, 
And may direct his course as please himself, 

117. hearts Qq | hates Ff. 123-140. Qq omit. 

113. mutual heavy load : burden pressing on all alike. 

117-119. Your hearts have been swollen high with rancor, but the 
rancor has been broken out of them ; and as the broken parts have 
been but lately secured by splints and knit and joined together, so 
the union must be gently preserved. 

121. fet. An old past form of 'fetch.' Cf. Henry V, III, i, 18. 
Prince Edward, as Prince of Wales, was in fact living at this time 
under the governance of his maternal uncle, the Earl of Rivers, at 
Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, close to the Welsh border. 

127. estate : state, commonwealth. Cf. Bacon, The Advancement 
of Learning, I, vii, 33 : " Then should people and Estates be happy 
when either Kings were Philosophers, or Philosophers Kings." 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 6$ 

As well the fear of harm as harm apparent, 130 

In my opinion, ought to be prevented. 

Gloucester. I hope the king made peace with all of us ; 
And the compact is firm and true in me. 

Rivers. And so in me ; and so, I think, in all : 
Yet, since it is but green, it should be put 135 

To no apparent likelihood of breach, 
Which haply by much company might be urg'd. 
Therefore I say with noble Buckingham, 
That it is meet so few should fetch the prince. 

Hastings. And so say I. 140 

Gloucester. Then be it so ; and go we to determine 

Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlow. 

Madam, and you, my mother, will you go 

To give your censures in this weighty business ? 

Queen Elizabeth. 1 „_. , „ 

_. > With all our hearts. 145 

Duchess. J 

Exeunt all but Buckingham and Gloucester 

Buckingham. My lord, whoever journeys to the prince, 

For God's sake, let not us two stay at home ; 

For, by the way, I '11 sort occasion, 

As index to the story we late talk'd of, 

To part the queen's proud kindred from the prince. 150 

Gloucester. My other self, my counsel's consistory, 

My oracle, my prophet ! my dear cousin. 

I, as a child, will go by thy direction. 

Towards Ludlow then, for we '11 not stay behind. Exeunt 

14a, 154. Ludlow Qql London Ff. 144- weighty Qq | Ff omit. 

130. apparent: evident, manifest. So in line 136; III, v, 29, etc. 

144. censures : judgments, opinions. Cf. Macbeth, V, iv, 14. 

148. sort: arrange, cause to fall out. (Latin sors, Mot.') 

149. index : table of contents. So in IV, iv, 85. 



64 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Scene III. [London. A street] 
Enter one Citizen at one door, and another at the other 

i Citizen. Good morrow, neighbour; whither away so 

fast? 
2 Citizen. I promise you I scarcely know myself. 
Hear you the news abroad ? 

i Citizen. Yes ; that the king is dead. 

2 Citizen. Ill news, by 'r lady ; seldom comes the better : 
I fear, I fear 't will prove a giddy world. 5 

Enter another Citizen 

3 Citizen. Neighbours, God speed ! 

i Citizen. Give you good morrow, sir. 

3 Citizen. Doth the news hold of good King Edward's 
death ? 

2 Citizen. Ay, sir, it is too true ; God help the while ! 

3 Citizen. Then, masters, look to see a troublous world, 
i Citizen. No, no ; by God's good grace his son shall 

reign. io 

3 Citizen. Woe to that land that 's govern'd by a child ! 
2 Citizen. In him there is a hope of government, 

That in his nonage, council under him, 

And, in his full and ripened years himself, 

No doubt, shall then and till then govern well. 15 

1. Good morrow, neighbour Ff | 4. Ill Ff I Bad Qq. 

Neighbour, well met Qq. 9. troublous Oil giddy Ff. 

n. An adaptation of Ecclesiastes, x, 16. 

13-15- That, till he comes of age, his council and, in his riper 
years, he himself shall govern well. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 65 

1 Citizen. So stood the state when Henry the Sixth 
Was crown'd in Paris, but at nine months old. 

3 Citizen. Stood the state so ? No, no, good friends, 
God wot ; 
For then this land was famously enrich'd 
With politic grave counsel ; then the king 20 

Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace. 

1 Citizen. Why, so hath this, both by his father and mother. 

3 Citizen. Better it were they all came by his father, 
Or by his father there were none at all ; 
For emulation now, who shall be nearest, 25 

Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not. 
O, full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester ! 
And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud ; 
And, were they to be rul'd, and not to rule, 
This sickly land might solace as before. 30 

1 Citizen. Come, come, we fear the worst ; all will be well. 
3 Citizen. When clouds are seen, wise men put on their 

cloaks ; 
When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand ; 
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night ? 
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth. 35 

All may be well ; but, if God sort it so, 
'T is more than we deserve, or I expect. 

2 Citizen. Truly, the hearts of men are full of fear : 
You cannot reason almost with a man 

That looks not heavily and full of dread. 40 

32. are seen Ff | appear Qq. Ff | dread Q3. 

38. hearts Ff | Souls Qq. — fear 40. dread Ff ! fear Qq. 

30. solace: take solace. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, IV, v, 47. 

36. sort. See note, II, ii, 147. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, V, i, 132. 



THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

3 Citizen. Before the days of change, still is it so. 
By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust 
Ensuing danger ; as, by proof, we see 
The waters swell before a boisterous storm. 
But leave it all to God. Whither away ? 45 

2 Citizen. Marry, we were sent for to the justices. 

3 Citizen. And so was I ; I '11 bear you company. 

Exeunt 

Scene IV. \L011don. The palace] 

Elite?- the Archbishop of York, the young Duke of York, 
Queen Elizabeth, and the Duchess of York 

Archbishop. Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton; 
At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night ; 
To-morrow or next day they will be here. 

Duchess. I long with all my heart to see the prince : 
I hope he is much grown since last I saw him. 5 

Queen Elizabeth. But I hear no ; they say my son of 
York 
Has almost overta'en him in his growth. 

York. Ay, mother ; but I would not have it so. 

Duchess. Why, my young cousin, it is good to grow. 

York. Grandam, one night as we did sit at supper, 10 
My uncle Rivers talk'd how I did grow 
More than my brother ; x Ay,' quoth my uncle Gloucester, 
1 Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace'.' 
And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast, 
Because sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste. 15 

41. days Ff | times Qq. 9. young Qq | good Ff. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 6j 

Duchess. Good faith, good faith, the saying did not hold 
In him that did object the same to thee ; 
He was the wretched'st thing when he was young, 
So long a-growing and so leisurely 
That, if his rule were true, he should be gracious. 20 

Archbishop. And so, no doubt, he is, my gracious madam. 

Duchess. I hope he is ; but yet let mothers doubt. 

York. Now, by my troth, if I had been remember'd, 
I could have given my uncle's grace a flout, 
To touch his growth nearer than he touch'd mine. 25 

Duchess. How, my young York ? I pray thee, let me hear it. 

York. Marry, they say my uncle grew so fast 
That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old ; 
'T was full two years ere I could get a tooth. 
Grandam, this would have been a biting jest. 30 

Duchess. I pray thee, pretty York, who told thee this ? 

York. Grandam, his nurse. 

Duchess. His nurse ! why, she was dead ere thou wast born. 

York. If 't were not she, I cannot tell who told me. 

Queen Elizabeth. A parlous boy ! Go to, you are too 
shrewd. 35 

Archbishop. Good madam, be not angry with the child. 

Queen Elizabeth. Pitchers have ears. 

Archbishop. Here comes a messenger. 

Enter a Messenger 

What news ? 
Messenger. Such news, my lord, as grieves me to report. 
Queen Elizabeth. How doth the prince ? 

26. young Ff I pretty Qq. 39- report Ff | unfold Qq. 

35. parlous. A popular corruption of 'perilous.' Cf. Ill, i, 154. 



68 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act ii 

Messenger. Well, madam, and in health. 

Duchess. What is thy news, then ? 41 

Messenger. Lord Rivers and Lord Grey are sent to 
Pomfret, 
With them Sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners. 

Duchess. Who hath committed them ? 

Messenger. The mighty dukes 

Gloucester and Buckingham. 

Queen Elizabeth. For what offence ? 45 

Messenger. The sum of all J can I have disclos'd : 
Why or for what these nobles were committed 
Is all. unknown to me, my gracious lady. 

Queen Elizabeth. Ah me, I see the downfall of our 
house ! 
The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind ; 50 

Insulting tyranny begins to jet 
Upon the innocent and aweless throne : 
Welcome, destruction, blood, and massacre ! 
I see, as in a map, the end of all. 

Duchess. Accursed and unquiet wrangling days, 55 

How many of you have mine eyes beheld ! 
My husband lost his life to get the crown ; 
And often up and down my sons were toss'd, 
For me to joy and weep their gain and loss : 
And, being seated, and domestic broils 60 

Clean over-blown, themselves, the conquerors, 

48. lady Oq I Lord Ff. 52. aweless Ff I lawless Qq. 

51. jet Qq I jut Ff. 53- blood Ff | death Qq. 

51-52. jet Upon : encroach on. Cf. Titus Andronicus, II, i, 63-64 : 
"and think you not how dangerous It is to jet upon a prince's 
right ? " — aweless : not looked upon with awe, unreverenced. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 69 

Make war upon themselves ; brother to brother, 

Blood to blood, self against self : O, preposterous 

And frantic outrage, end thy damned spleen ; 

Or let me die, to look on death no more 1 65 

Queen Elizabeth. Come, come, my boy ; we will to 
sanctuary. 
Madam, farewell. 

Duchess. Stay, I will go with you. 

Queen Elizabeth. You have no cause. 

Archbishop. [To the Queen] My gracious lady, go ; 

And thither bear your treasure and your goods. 
For my part, I '11 resign unto your grace 70 

The seal I keep ; and so betide to me 
As well I tender you and all of yours ! 
Come, I '11 conduct you to the sanctuary. Exeunt 

62. brother to brother Ff I Qq omit. 65. death Qq | earth Ff. 

71-73. The seal I keep. The archbishop, as lord chancellor, was 
the keeper of the great seal. — betide : may it happen. Shakespeare 
here follows closely the narrative in Hall's Chronicle : " Whereupon 
the bishop called up all his servants and took with him the great 
seal, and came before day to the queen, about whom he found much 
heaviness, rumble, haste, business, conveyance and carriage of her 
stuff into sanctuary." 

72. tender : regard, care for. See note, I, i, 44. 



ACT III 

Scene I. [London. A street] 

The trumpets sound. Enter the Young Prince, the Dukes of 
Gloucester and Buckingham, Cardinal [Bourchier, 
Catesby] and others. 

Buckingham. Welcome, sweet prince, to London, to your 

chamber. 
Gloucester. Welcome, dear cousin, my thoughts' sov- 
ereign ; 
The weary way hath made you melancholy. 

Prince. No, uncle ; but our crosses on the way 
Have made it tedious, wearisome, and heavy ; 5 

I want more uncles here to welcome me. 

Gloucester. Sweet prince, th' untainted virtue of your 
years 
Hath not yet div'd into the world's deceit ; 
Nor more can you distinguish of a man 
Than of his outward show ; which, God he knows, 10 

9. Nor Q1Q2 I No Ff. 

1. Enter . . . Bourchier. Thomas Bourchier was made a cardi- 
nal and elected Archbishop of Canterbury in 1464. He died in i486. 

1. chamber. London was anciently called camera regis, ' the king's 
chamber.' Thus in Buckingham's speech to the citizens as given by 
More : " The prince, by this noble citie as his speciall chamber, and 
the speciall well renowned citie of this realme, much honourable 
fame receiveth among all other nations." 

70 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD Jl 

Seldom or never jumpeth with the heart. 

Those uncles which you want were dangerous; 

Your grace attended to their sugar'd words, 

But look'd not on the poison of their hearts : 

God keep you from them, and from such false friends ! 15 

Prince. God keep me from false friends ! but they were 
none. 

Gloucester. My lord, the mayor of London comes to 

greet you. 

Enter the Lord Mayor \_and his Train] 

Mayor. God bless your grace with health and happy days ! 

Prince. I thank you, good my lord ; and thank you all. 

[Mayor and his train retire] 
I thought my mother and my brother York 
Would long, ere this have met us on the way ; 
Fie, what a slug is Hastings, that he comes not 
To tell us whether they will come or no ! 

Buckingham. And in good time here comes the sweating 

lord. 

Enter Lord Hastings 

Prince. Welcome, my lord ; what, will our mother come ? 

Hastings. On what occasion, God he knows, not I, 26 
The queen your mother, and your brother York, 
Have taken sanctuary ; the tender prince 
Would fain have come with me to meet your grace, 
But by his mother was perforce withheld. 3° 

11 jumpeth : agrees. Cf. 1 Henry IV, I, ii, 78. In The Taming of 
the Shrew, I, i, 195, the verb is used absolutely. Cf. Twelfth Night, 
V, i, 259: "till each circumstance ... do cohere and jump that I 
am Viola." 



72 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Buckingham. Fie, what an indirect and peevish course 
Is this of hers ! Lord cardinal, will your grace 
Persuade the queen to send the Duke of York 
Unto his princely brother presently ? 

If she deny, Lord Hastings, go with him, 35 

And from her jealous arms pluck him perforce. 

Cardinal. My Lord of Buckingham, if my weak oratory 
Can from his mother win the Duke of York, 
Anon expect him here ; but, if she be obdurate 
To mild entreaties, God in heaven forbid 40 

We should infringe the holy privilege 
Of blessed sanctuary ! not for all this land 
Would I be guilty of so deep a sin. 

Buckingham. You are too senseless-obstinate, my lord, 
Too ceremonious and traditional ; 45 

Weigh it but with the grossness of this age, 
You break not sanctuary in seizing him. 
The benefit thereof is always granted 
To those whose dealings have deserv'd the place, 
And those who have the wit to claim the place. 50 

This prince hath neither claim'd it nor deserv'd it ; 
And therefore, in mine opinion, cannot have it : 
Then, taking him from thence that is not there, 
You break no privilege nor charter there. 
Oft have I heard of sanctuary men ; 55 

But sanctuary children ne'er till now. 

40. in heaven Q1Q2 I Ff omit. 43- deep Q1Q2 I great Ff. 

52. And QqFi | F2F3F4 omit. 

45. ceremonious : tenacious of formalities, scrupulous about forms. 
— traditional : influenced by tradition, adherent to old customs. 

46. Weigh . . . age : you judge the matter only in accordance with 
the coarse way of looking at things nowadays. 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD 73 

Cardinal. My lord, you shall o'er-rule my mind for once. 
Come on, Lord Hastings, will you go with me ? 

Hastings. I go, my lord. 

Prince. Good lords, make all the speedy haste you may. 
Exeiuit Cardinal and Hastings 
Say, uncle Gloucester, if our brother come, 61 

Where shall we sojourn till our coronation ? 

Gloucester. Where it seems best unto your royal self. 
If I may counsel you, some day or two 
Your highness shall repose you at the Tower ; 65 

Then where you please, and shall be thought most fit 
For your best health and recreation. 

Prince. I do not like the Tower, of any place. 
Did Julius Caesar build that place, my lord ? 

Buckingham. He did, my gracious lord, begin that place ; 
Which, since, succeeding ages have re-edified. 71 

Prince. Is it upon record, or else reported 
Successively from age to age, he built it ? 

Buckingham. Upon record, my gracious lord. 

Prince. But say, my lord, it were not regist'red, 75 

Methinks the truth should live from age to age, 
As 't were retail'd to all posterity, 
Even to the general all-ending day. 

Gloucester. [Aside] So wise so young, they say, do never 
live long. 

Prince. What say you, uncle ? 80 

Gloucester. I say, without characters, fame lives long. 

77. retail'd : recounted, repeated. So in IV, iv, 334. Minsheu, in 
his Dictionary (1617), besides the verb 'retail,' in the mercantile 
sense, has the verb ' retaile,' ' retell.' 

81. characters : written records. The word is accented here on 
the second syllable. 



74 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

[Aside] Thus, like the formal vice, Iniquity, 
I moralize two meanings in one word. 

Prince. That Julius Caesar was a famous man ; 
With what his valour did enrich his wit, 85 

His wit set down to make his valour live. 
Death makes no conquest of this conqueror ; 
For now he lives in fame, though not in life. 
I '11 tell you what, my cousin Buckingham, — 

Buckingham. What, my gracious lord ? 90 

Prince. And if I live until I be a man, 

91. And if QqFf | An if Theobald. 

82. the formal vice. The part of the Vice in the old moral plays 
appears to have been on all occasions much the same, consisting in 
a given round, or set form, of action ; hence, probably, the epithet 
'formal ' as here applied. The following is Gifford's description of 
him : " He appears to have been a perfect counterpart of the harle- 
quin of the modern stage, and had a twofold office, — to instigate 
the hero of the piece to wickedness, and at the same time to pro- 
tect him from the Devil, whom he was permitted to buffet and 
baffle with his wooden sword, till the process of the story required 
that both the protector and the protected should be carried off by 
the fiend ; or the latter driven roaring from the stage, by some 
miraculous interposition in favour of the repentant offender." Cf. 
Twelfth Night, IV, ii, 134. 

83. I moralize . . . one word. Heath explains as follows : " Thus 
my moralities, or the sententious expressions I have just uttered, 
resemble those of the Vice, Iniquity, in the play ; the indecencies 
which lie at the bottom are sheltered from exception and the indig- 
nation they would excite if nakedly delivered, under the ambiguity 
of a double meaning. . . . The term 'moralize ' is only introduced 
in allusion to the title of our old dramatic pieces, which were com- 
monly called ' Moralities,' in which the Vice was always one of the' 
shining characters." As the Vice acted the part of a buffoon or 
jester, he was wont " to deal largely in double meanings, and by 
the help of them to aim at cracking a jest or raising a laugh." 

86. The reference is to Caesar's Commentaries. 



scene i KING RICHARD THE THIRD 75 

I '11 win our ancient right in France again, 
Or die a soldier, as I lived a king. 

Gloucester. [Aside] Short summers lightly have a for- 
ward spring. 

Enter young 'York, Hastings, and the Cardinal 

Buckingham. Now, in good time, here comes the Duke 
of York. 95 

Prince. Richard of York ! how fares our loving brother ? 

York. Well, my dread lord ; so must I call you now. 

Prince. Ay, brother, to our grief, as it is yours. 
Too late he died that might have kept that title, 
Which by his death hath lost much majesty. 100 

Gloucester. How fares our cousin, noble Lord of York ? 

York. I thank you, gentle uncle. O, my lord, 
You said that idle weeds are fast in growth ; 
The prince my brother hath outgrown me far. 

Gloucester. He hath, my lord. 

York. And therefore is he idle ? 

Gloucester. O, my fair cousin, I must not say so. 106 

York. Then is he more beholding to you than I. 

Gloucester. He may command me as my sovereign, 
But you have power in me as in a kinsman. 

York. I pray you, uncle, give me this dagger. no 

Gloucester. My dagger, little cousin ? with all my heart. 

Prince. A beggar, brother ? 

97. dread Q x | deare Ff. 

94. lightly : commonly, often. So in an old proverb preserved 
by Ray : " There 's lightning lightly before thunder." 

99. late : lately, recently. It is too short a time since his death, 
not to be 'to our grief, as it is yours.' 



j6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

York. Of my kind uncle, that I know will give ; 
And being but a toy, which is no grief to give. 

Gloucester. A greater gift than that I '11 give my cousin. 

York. A greater gift ! O, that 's the sword to it. 116 

Gloucester. Ay, gentle cousin, were it light enough. 

York. O, then, I see you will part but with light gifts ; 
In weightier things you '11 say a beggar nay. 

Gloucester. It is too heavy for your grace to wear. 120 

York. I 'd weigh it lightly, were it heavier. 

Gloucester. What, would you have my weapon, little lord ? 

York. I would, that I might thank you, as you call me. 

Gloucester. How ? 

York. Little. 125 

Prince. My Lord of York will still be cross in talk. 
Uncle, your grace knows how to bear with him. 

York. You mean, to bear me, not to bear with me. 
Uncle, my brother mocks both you and me ; 
Because that I am little, like an ape, 130 

He thinks that you should bear me on your shoulders. 

Buckingham. [Aside to Hastings] With what a sharp- 
provided wit he reasons ! 
To mitigate the scorn he gives his uncle, 
He prettily and aptly taunts himself. 
So cunning and so young is wonderful. 135 

mi. I'd Hanmer | I QqFf. 

121. weigh it lightly : consider it a trifling gift. 

126. will still be : always insists on being. — cross : at cross purposes. 

130-131. ape . . . shoulders. York alludes to the hump on Glouces- 
ter's back, which was commodious for carrying burdens. Cf. Ulpian 
Fulwell's Ars Adulandi (1576): "Thou hast an excellent back to 
carry my lord's ape." 

132. sharp-provided: keen. — reasons: talks. As in I, iv, 165. 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD J J 

Gloucester. My lord, will 't please you pass along ? 
Myself and my good cousin Buckingham 
Will to your mother, to entreat of her 
To meet you at the Tower and welcome you, 

York. What will you go unto the Tower, my lord ? 140 

Prince. My lord protector needs will have it so. 

York. I shall not sleep in quiet at the Tower. 

Gloucester. Why, what should you fear ? 

York. Marry, my uncle Clarence' angry ghost ; 
My grandam told me he was murder'd there. 145 

Prince. I fear no uncles dead. 

Gloucester. Nor none that live, I hope. 

Prince. And if they live, I hope I need not fear. 
But come, my lord ; and with a heavy heart, 
Thinking on them, go I unto the Tower. 150 

A Sennet. Exeunt all but Gloucester, Bucking- 
ham and Catesby 

Buckingham. Think you, my lord, this little prating York 
Was not incensed by his subtle mother 
To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously ? 

Gloucester. No doubt, no doubt : O, 't is a parlous boy ; 
Bold, quick, ingenious, forward, capable; 155 

He 's all the mother's, from the top to toe. 

Buckingham. Well, let them rest. Come hither, Catesby. 
Thou art sworn as deeply to effect what we intend 
As closely to conceal what we impart. 
Thou know'st our reasons urg'd upon the way; 160 

141. needs Qi | Q2Ff omit. 148. And QqFf I An Theobald. 

150. Sennet : flourish of notes on a trumpet. 

152. incensed : instigated. Cf. Much Ado About Nothing, V, i, 242. 



78 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

What think'st thou ? is it not an easy matter 
To make William Lord Hastings of our mind, 
For the instalment of this noble duke 
In the seat royal of this famous isle ? 

Catesby. He for his father's sake so loves the prince 165 
That he will not be won to aught against him. 

Buckingham. What think'st thou then of Stanley? will 
not he ? 

Catesby. He will do all in all as Hastings doth. 

Buckingham. Well, then no more but this: go, gentle 
Catesby, 
And, as it were far off, sound thou Lord Hastings, 170 

How he doth stand affected to our purpose ; 
And summon him to-morrow to the Tower, 
To sit about the coronation. 
If thou dost find him tractable to us, 

Encourage him, and show him all our reasons : 175 

If he be leaden, icy-cold, unwilling, 
Be thou so too ; and so break off your talk, 
And give us notice of his inclination ; 
For we to-morrow hold divided councils, 
Wherein thyself shalt highly be em ploy 'd. 180 

Gloucester. Commend me to Lord William : tell him, 
Catesby, 
His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries 
To-morrow are let blood at Pomfret Castle ; 
And bid my friend, for joy of this good news, 
Give Mistress Shore one gentle kiss the more. 185 

Buckingham. Good Catesby,go, effect this business soundly. 

167. will not Ff I what will Qq. 172-173. Qq omit. 

179. divided. Two separate meetings were held. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 79 

Catesby. My good lords both, with all the heed I can. 

Gloucester. Shall we hear from you, Catesby, ere we 
sleep ? 

Catesby. You shall, my lord. 

Gloucester. At Crosby Place, there shall you find us both. 

Exit Catesby 

Buckingham. Now, my lord, what shall we do, if we 
perceive 19 : 

Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots ? 

Gloucester. Chop off his head, man ; somewhat we will do. 
And, look, when I am king, claim thou of me 
Th' earldom of Hereford, and the movables 195 

Whereof the king my brother stood possess'd. 

Buckingham. I '11 claim that promise at your grace's hand. 

Gloucester. And look to have it yielded with all kindness. 
Come, let us sup betimes, that afterwards 
We may digest our complots in some form. Exeunt 200 

Scene II. Before Lord Hastings' house 
Enter a Messenger 

Messenger. [Knocking] My lord ! my lord ! 

Hastings. [ Within] Who knocks ? 

Messenger. One from the Lord Stanley. 

Hastings. [Withiti] What is 't o'clock ? 

Messenger. Upon the stroke of four. 5 

Enter Lord Hastings 

Hastings. Cannot thy master sleep these tedious nights ? 
Messenger. So it appears by that I have to say. 
First, he commends him to your noble self. 



80 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act III 

Hastings. What then ? 

Messenger. Then certifies your lordship, that this night 10 
He dreamt the boar had razed off his helm ; 
Besides, he says there are two councils held, 
And that may be determin'd at the one 
Which may make you and him to rue at th' other. 
Therefore he sends to know your lordship's pleasure, 15 
If presently you will take horse with him, 
And with all speed post with him toward the north, 
To shun the danger that his soul divines. 

Hastings. Go, fellow, go, return unto thy lord ; 
Bid him not fear the separated councils : 20 

His honour and myself are at the one, 
And at the other is my good friend Catesby ; 
Where nothing can proceed that toucheth us 
Whereof I shall not have intelligence. 

Tell him his fears are shallow, wanting instance ; 25 

And for his dreams, I wonder he 's so fond 
To trust the mockery of unquiet slumbers. 
To fly the boar before the boar pursues 
Were to incense the boar to follow us, 

And make pursuit where he did mean no chase. 30 

Go, bid thy master rise and come to me ; 

10-11. Then . . . dreamt Ff | And then he sends you word He dreamt Qq. 

11. razed : pulled away violently. The original meaning of the 
verb is ' scratch,' ' scrape,' and the usual sense of ' demolish ' comes 
from the idea of scraping out thoroughly. Cf. Ill, iv, 81. 

25. wanting instance : groundless, without any motive. Cf. The 
Merry Wives of Windsor, II, ii, 254-257: "Now, could I come to 
her with any detection in my hand, my desires had instance and 
argument to commend themselves." 

26. fond: foolish. Usually so. Cf. 'fondly,' III, vii, 147. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 8l 

And we will both together to the Tower, 
Where he shall see the boar will use us kindly. 

Messenger. . I '11 go, my lord, and tell him what you say. 

Exit 
Enter Catesby 

Catesby. Many good morrows to my noble lord ! 35 

Hastings. Good morrow, Catesby ; you are early stirring. 
What news, what news, in this our tott'ring state ? 

Catesby. It is a reeling world, indeed, my lord ; 
And I believe will never stand upright 
Till Richard wear the garland of the realm. 40 

Hastings. How ! wear the garland ! dost thou mean the 
crown ? 

Catesby. Ay, my good lord. 

Hastings. I '11 have this crown of mine cut from my 
shoulders 
Before I '11 see the crown so foul misplac'd. 
But canst thou guess that he doth aim at it ? 45 

Catesby. Ay, on my life ; and hopes to find you forward 
Upon his party for the gain thereof ; 
And thereupon he sends you this good news, 
That this same very day your enemies, 
The kindred of the queen, must die at Pomfret. 50 

Hastings. Indeed, I am no mourner for that news, 
Because they have been still my adversaries ; 
But, that I '11 give my voice on Richard's side, 
To bar my master's heirs in true descent, 
God knows I will not do it, to the death. 55 

33. boar. Richard, whose crest was a boar. An old meaning of 
' kindly ' is ' after his kind,' i.e. according to his nature. 



82 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Catesby. God keep your lordship in that gracious mind ! 

Hastings. But I shall laugh at this a twelve-month hence, 
That they who brought me in my master's hate, 
I live to look upon their tragedy. 

Well, Catesby, ere a fortnight make me older, 60 

I '11 send some packing that yet think not on 't. 

Catesby. 'T is a vile thing to die, my gracious lord, 
When men are unprepar'd and look not for it. 

Hastings. O monstrous, monstrous ! and so falls it out 
With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey ; and so 't will do 65 

With some men else, that think themselves as safe 
As thou and I ; who, as thou know'st, are dear 
To princely Richard and to Buckingham. 

Catesby. The princes both make high account of you, 
[Aside] For they account his head upon the bridge. 70 

Hastings. I know they do ; and I have well deserv'd it. 

Enter Lord Stanley 

Come on, come on ; where is your boar-spear, man ? 
Fear you the boar, and go so unprovided ? 

Stanley. My lord, good morrow ; good morrow, Catesby. 
You may jest on, but, by the holy rood, 75 

I do not like these several councils, I. 

Hastings. My lord, I hold my life as dear as you do yours ; 
And never in my days, I do protest, 
Was it more precious to me than 't is now. 

77. you do Qq | Ff omit. 

70. upon the bridge : on London Bridge (i.e. as a traitor). 

75. rood : cross, crucifix. Often thus in petty oaths. Cf. IV, iv, 165. 

76. several: separate. Often so. Cf. The Tempest, III, i, 42. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 83 

Think you, but that I know our state secure, 80 

I would be so triumphant as I am ? 

Stanley. The lords at Pomfret, when they rode from 
London, 
Were jocund, and suppos'd their states were sure ; 
And they, indeed, had no cause to mistrust ; 
But yet, you see, how soon the day o'ercast. 85 

This sudden stab of rancour I misdoubt ; 
Pray God, I say, I prove a needless coward ! 
What, shall we toward the Tower ? the day is spent. 

Hastings. Come, come, have with you. Wot you what, 
my lord ? 
To-day the lords you talk of are beheaded. 90 

Stanley. They, for their truth, might better wear their 
heads 
Than some that have accus'd them wear their hats. 
But come, my lord, let us away. 

Enter a Pursuivant 

Hastings. Go on before ; I '11 talk with this good fellow. 

Exeunt Stanley a?id Catesby 

How now, sirrah ! how goes the world with thee ? 95 

Pursuivant. The better that your lordship please to ask. 

Hastings. I tell thee, man, 't is better with me now 
Than when thou met'st me last where now we meet : 
Then was I going prisoner to the Tower, 
By the suggestion of the queen's allies ; 100 

But now, I tell thee — keep it to thyself — 

87. prove a needless coward : needlessly prove a coward. 

92. wear their hats : hold their offices. 

94. A ' pursuivant ' was a state messenger or herald. 



84 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

This day those enemies are put to death, 
And I in better state than e'er I was. 

Pursuivant. God hold it, to your honour's good content ! 

Hastings. Gramercy, fellow. There, drink that for me. 

Throws him his purse 

Pursuivant. God save your lordship ! Exit 106 

Enter a Priest 

Priest. Well met, my lord ; I am glad to see your honour. 

Hastings. I thank thee, good Sir John, with all my heart. 
I am in your debt for your last exercise ; 
Come the next Sabbath, and I will content you. no 

Enter Buckingham 

Buckingham. What, talking with a priest, lord chamberlain ? 
Your friends at Pomfret, they do need the priest ; 
Your honour hath no shriving work in hand. 

Hastings. Good faith, and when I met this holy man, 
The men you talk of came into my mind. 115 

What, go you toward the Tower ? 

Buckingham. I do, my lord, but long I cannot stay there ; 
I shall return before your lordship thence. 

Hastings. Nay, like enough, for I stay dinner there. 

Buckingham. [Aside] And supper too, although thou 
know'st it not. 120 

Come, will you go ? 

Hastings. I '11 wait upon your lordship. Exeunt 

105. Gramercy: great thanks (French grand merci). 

108. ' Sir ' was in common use as a clerical title. 

109. exercise: religious duty. Cf. Ill, vii, 64. 

113. shriving work : confession. Cf. ' shrift,' III, iv, 95. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 85 

Scene III. Pomfret. [Before the castle'] 

Enter Sir Richard Ratcliff, with halberds carrying 
Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan to death 

Rivers. Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this, 
To-day shalt thou behold a subject die 
For truth, for duty, and for loyalty. 

Grey. God keep the prince from all the pack of you ! 
A knot you are of damned blood-suckers. 5 

Vaughan. You live that shall cry woe for this hereafter. 

Ratcliff. Dispatch ; the limit of your lives is out. 

Rivers. O Pomfret, Pomfret ! O thou bloody prison, 
Fatal and ominous to noble peers ! 

Within the guilty closure of thy walls 10 

Richard the Second here was hack'd to death ; 
And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, 
We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink. 

Grey. Now Margaret's curse is fall'n upon our heads, 
When she exclaim'd on Hastings, you, and I, 15 

For standing by when Richard stabb'd her son. 

Rivers. Then curs'd she Richard, then curs'd she Bucking- 
ham, 
Then curs'd she Hastings. O, remember, God, 
To hear her prayers for them, as now for us ! 
And, for my sister and her princely sons, 20 

Be satisfied, dear God, with our true blood, 
Which, as thou know'st, unjustly must be spilt. 

15. When . . . I Ff I Qq omit. 

1. The Quartos begin the scene with a speech by Ratcliff : " Come, 
bring forth the prisoners." 



86 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Ratcliff. Make haste ; the hour of death is expiate. 
Rivers. Come, Grey, come, Vaughan, let us here embrace ; 
Farewell, until we meet again in heaven. [Exeunt] 25 



Scene IV. [ The Tower of Loudon] 

Enter Buckingham, Stanley, Hastings, the Bishop of 
Ely, Ratcliff, Lovel, with others, [and take their seats] 
at a table 

Hastings. Now, noble peers, the cause why we are met 
Is, to determine of the coronation. 
In God's name, speak ; when is the royal day ? 

Buckingham. Is all things ready for that royal time ? 

Stanley. It is, and wants but nomination. 5 

Ely. To-morrow, then, I judge a happy day. 

Buckingham. Who knows the lord protector's mind herein? 
Who is most inward with the noble duke ? 

Ely. Your grace, we think, should soonest know his mind. 

Buckingham. We know each other's faces : for our hearts, 

1. Now . . . peers Ff | My lords, 4. Is . . . ready Ff | Are . . . fit- 

at once Qq. ting Qq. 

23. expiate : finished, fully come. See Murray on ' -ate.' 
1. Bishop of Ely. Dr. John Morton was elected to the see of 
Ely in 1478. He was advanced to the see of Canterbury in i486, 
and appointed Lord Chancellor in 1487. He devised the scheme of 
putting an end to the long contest between the houses of York and 
Lancaster by a marriage between Henry, Earl of Richmond, and 
Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. 

5. wants but nomination : only requires to be named. 
8. inward with : intimate with, in the confidence of. 
10. The Quartos preface this speech with M Who, I, my lord ? " 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 87 

He knows no more of mine than I of yours ; 1 1 

Or I of his, my lord, than you of mine. 
Lord Hastings, you and he are near in love. 

Hastings. I thank his grace, I know he loves me well ; 
But, for his purpose in the coronation, 1 5 

I have not sounded him, nor he deliver'd 
His gracious pleasure any way therein : 
But you, my noble lords, may name the time ; 
And in the duke's behalf I '11 give my voice, 
Which, I presume, he '11 take in gentle part. 20 

Enter Gloucester 

Ely. In happy time, here comes the duke himself. 

Gloucester. My noble lords and cousins all, good morrow. 
I have been long a sleeper ; but, I trust, 
My absence doth neglect no great design, 
Which by my presence might have been concluded. 25 

Buckingham. Had you not come upon your cue, my lord, 
William Lord Hastings had pronounc'd your part, — 
I mean your voice, — for crowning of the king. 

Gloucester. Than my Lord Hastings no man might be 
bolder ; 
His lordship knows me well, and loves me well. 30 

My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn, 
I saw good strawberries in your garden there ; 
I do beseech you send for some of them. 

26. cue. For other metaphors from the stage cf. IV, iv, 68, 91. 

2 9~33- This easy affability and smoothness of humor when going 
about the blackest and bloodiest crimes is one of the most telling 
dramatic strokes in this terrible portrait. The incident of the straw- 
berries is from Holinshed, who probably took it from More (see 



88 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Ely. Marry, and will, my lord, with all my heart. Exit 

Gloucester. Cousin of Buckingham, a word with you. 

[Takes him aside] 
Catesby hath sounded Hastings in our business, 36 

And finds the testy gentleman so hot 
That he will lose his head ere give consent 
His master's child, as worshipfully he terms it, 
Shall lose the royalty of England's throne. 40 

Buckingham. Withdraw you hence, my lord ; I '11 follow 
you. Exeunt [Gloucester and Buckingham] 

Stanley. We have not yet set down this day of triumph. 
To-morrow, in my judgment, is too sudden ; 
For I myself am not so well provided 
As else I would be, were the day prolong'd. 45 

Re-enter the Bishop of Ely 

Ely. Where is my lord, the Duke of Gloucester ? 
I have sent for these strawberries. 

Hastings. His grace looks cheerfully and smooth to-day ; 
There 's some conceit or other likes him well, 
When that he bids good morrow with such spirit. 50 

I think there 's never a man in Christendom 

41. you hence . . . follow Qq | yourself a while : I '11 go with Ff. 

Introduction, Sources), by whom it is given as follows : " These lords 
so sitting togither commoning of this matter, the protector came in 
amongst them. . . . After a little talking with them he said unto 
the bishop of Elie : My lord, you have verie good strawberies at 
your garden in Holborne ; I require you, let us have a messe of 
them. Gladlie, my lord, quoth he ; would God I had some better 
thing as readie to your pleasure as that ! And therewithall in all 
the hast he sent his servant for a messe of strawberies." 

49. conceit: thought, conception. — likes: pleases. See Abbott, §297. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 89 

Can lesser hide his love or hate than he ; 

For by his face straight shall you know his heart. 

Stanley. What of his heart perceive you in his face 
By any likelihood he show'd to-day ? 55 

Hastings. Marry, that with no man here he is offended ; 
For, were he, he had shown it in his looks. 

Stanley. I pray God he be not, I say. 

Re-enter Gloucester and Buckingham 

Gloucester. I pray you all, tell me what they deserve 
That do conspire my death with devilish plots 60 

Of damned witchcraft, and that have prevail'd 
Upon my body with their hellish charms ? 

Hastings. The tender love I bear your grace, my lord, 
Makes me most forward in this noble presence 
To doom the offenders, whosoe'er they be ; 65 

I say, my lord, they have deserved death. 

Gloucester. Then be your eyes the witness of their 
evil. 
Look how I am bewitch'd ; behold mine arm 
Is, like a blasted sapling, wither'd up : 

And this is Edward's wife, that monstrous witch, 70 

Consorted with that harlot strumpet Shore, 
That by their witchcraft thus have marked me. 

Hastings. If they have done this thing, my gracious 
lord, — 

Gloucester. If ! thou protector of this damned strumpet, 
Talk'st thou to me of l ifs ' ? Thou art a traitor ! 75 

Off with his head ! now, by Saint Paul I swear, 
I will not dine until I see the same. 

55. likelihood Qq | livelyhood Ff. 58. Ff omit. 



90 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Lovel and Ratcliff, look that it be done ; 
The rest, that love me, rise and follow me. 

Exeunt all but Hastings, Ratcliff, and Lovel 

Hastings. Woe, woe for England ! not a whit for me ; 
For I, too fond, might have prevented this. 81 

Stanley did dream the boar did raze our helms ; 
But I disdain'd it, and did scorn to fly. 
Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble, 
And started when he look'd upon the Tower, 85 

As loth to bear me to the slaughter-house. 
O, now I need the priest that spake to me : 
I now repent I told the pursuivant, 
As too triumphing, how mine enemies 

To-day at Pomfret bloodily were butcher'd, 90 

And I myself secure in grace and favour. 
O Margaret, Margaret, now thy heavy curse 
Is lighted on poor Hastings' wretched head ! 

Ratcliff. Come, come, dispatch ; the duke would be at 
dinner : 
Make a short shrift ; he longs to see your head. 95 

Hastings. O momentary grace of mortal men, 

82. raze Qq I rowse Ff. Ff | 'twere . . . at . . . How they 

89-90. too . . . how . . . To-day Qq. 

78. Ratcliff. In the preceding scene we have Ratcliff at Pomfret, 
conducting Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan to death ; yet the events of 
that scene and this are represented as occurring the same day. 
Knight thinks " this is one of those positions in which the Poet has 
trusted to the imagination of his audience rather than to their topo- 
graphical knowledge." 

84. foot-cloth. The ' foot-cloth,' a kind of rich covering for the 
body of a horse, was used only on state occasions when the animal 
was not required to go faster than a walk. — stumble. An ancient 
omen of misfortune. 



scene v KING RICHARD THE THIRD 91 

Which we more hunt for than the grace of God ! 

Who builds his hope in air of your fair looks, 

Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast, 

Ready, with every nod, to tumble down 100 

Into the fatal bowels of the deep. 

Lovel. Come, come, dispatch ; 't is bootless to exclaim. 

Hastings. O bloody Richard ! miserable England ! 
I prophesy the fearfull'st time to thee 

That ever wretched age hath look'd upon. 105 

Come, lead me to the block ; bear him my head : 
They smile at me who shortly shall be dead. Exeunt 

Scene V. [The Tower-wal/s] 

Enter Gloucester and Buckingham, in ?vtten armour, 
marvellous ill-favoured 

-Gloucester. Come, cousin, canst thou quake, and change 
thy colour, 
Murder thy breath in middle of a word, 
And then begin again, and stop again, 
As if thou wert distraught and mad with terror ? 

Buckingham. Tut, I can counterfeit the deep tragedian ; 
Speak and look back, and pry on every side, 6 

Tremble and start at wagging of a straw, 

7. Ff omit. 

107. William Lord Hastings was beheaded on the 13th of June, 
1483:. His eldest son by Catharine Neville, daughter of Richard 
Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and widow of William Lord Bonville, was 
restored to his estate by Henry VII. 

1. rotten armour. To indicate their unpreparedness. 

5-7. Cf. Hamlet's advice to the players, Hamlet, III, ii, 1-17. 



92 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Intending deep suspicion : ghastly looks 

Are at my service, like enforced smiles ; 

And both are ready in their offices 10 

At any time, to grace my stratagems. 

But what, is Catesby gone ? 

Gloucester. He is ; and see, he brings the mayor along. 

E?iter the Mayor and Catesby 

Buckingham. Let me alone to entertain him. — Lord 

mayor, — 
Gloucester. Look to the drawbridge there ! 
Buckingham. Hark! a drum. 15 

Gloucester. Catesby, o'erlook the walls. 
Buckingham. Lord mayor, the reason we have sent — 
Gloucester. Look back, defend thee ; here are enemies. 
Buckingham. God and our innocency defend and guard 

us! 

Enter Lovel and Ratcliff, with Hastings' head 

Gloucester. Be patient, they are friends, Ratcliff and 
Lovel. 20 

Lovel. Here is the head of that ignoble traitor, 
The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings. 

Gloucester. So dear I lov'd the man that I must weep. 
I took him for the plainest harmless creature 
That breath'd upon the earth a Christian ; 25 

8. Intending : pretending. Often so. Cf. Ill, vii, 45. 

9. enforced: counterfeited. Cf. Julius Ccesar, IV, ii, 20-21 : 

When love begins to sicken and decay, 
It useth an enforced ceremony. 

10. offices : special functions. Cf. Richard II, I, iii, 256; II, 1, 47- 



scene v KING RICHARD THE THIRD 93 

Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded 

The history of all her secret thoughts ; 

So smooth he daub'd his vice with show of virtue, 

That, his apparent open guilt omitted, 

I mean his conversation with Shore's wife, 30 

He liv'd from all attainder of suspect. 

Buckingham. Well, well, he was the covert'st shelter'd 
traitor 
That ever liv'd. 

Would you imagine, or almost believe, 

Were 't not that, by great preservation, 35 

We live to tell it you, the subtle traitor 
This day had plotted, in the council-house, 
To murder me and my good Lord of Gloucester ? 

Mayor. What, had he so ? 

Gloucester. What, think you we are Turks or infidels ? 
Or that we would, against the form of law, 41 

Proceed thus rashly in the villain's death, 
But that the extreme peril of the case, 
The peace of England and our persons' safety, 
Enforc'd us to this execution ? 45 

Mayor. Now, fair befall you ! he deserv'd his death ; 
And your good graces both have well proceeded, 
To warn false traitors from the like attempts. 
I never look'd for better at his hands, 
After he once fell in with Mistress Shore. 50 

29. apparent: manifest. As in II, ii, 130, 136, etc. 

30. conversation: intercourse, connection. Cf. Hamlet, III, ii, 60. 

31. attainder of suspect : taint of suspicion. Cf. I, iii, 89. 

49-50. The arrangement of the Quartos. The Folios give the 
lines to Buckingham. 



4 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Gloucester. Yet had we not determin'd he should die, 
Until your lordship came to see his end ; 
Which now the loving haste of these our friends, 
Somewhat against our meaning, have prevented ; 
Because, my lord, we would have had you heard 55 

The traitor speak, and timorously confess 
The manner and the purpose of his treason, 
That you might well have signified the same 
Unto the citizens, who haply may 
Misconstrue us in him, and wail his death. 60 

Mayor. But, my good lord, your grace's word shall serve, 
As well as I had seen, and heard him speak ; 
And do not doubt, right noble princes both, 
But I '11 acquaint our duteous citizens 
With all your just proceedings in this case. 65 

Gloucester. And to that end we wish'd your lordship 
here, 
To avoid the censures of the carping world. 

Buckingham. But since you come too late of our intent, 
Yet witness what you hear we did intend ; 
And so, my good lord mayor, we bid farewell. Exit Mayor 

Gloucester. Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham. 71 
The mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post. 
There, at your meetest vantage of the time, 

68. But Qq I Which Ff. 
51-60. In the Folios all of this speech is given to Buckingham 
along with lines 49-5°- 

54. have. Attracted into plural by 'friends.'— prevented: anticipated. 

55. ' To have ' may have been elided before ' heard.' See Abbott, 

§ 4ii- 

62. as I had seen. The 'if is implied in the subjunctive. See 

Abbott, § 107. 



scene v KING RICHARD THE THIRD 95 

Infer the bastardy of Edward's children ; 

Tell them how Edward put to death a citizen, 75 

Only for saying he would make his son 

Heir to the crown ; meaning indeed his house, 

Which, by the sign thereof, was termed so. 

Moreover, urge his hateful luxury, 

And bestial appetite in change of lust ; 80 

Which stretch'd unto their servants, daughters, wives, 

Even where his raging eye or savage heart, 

Without control, lusted to make a prey. 

Nay, for a need, thus far come near my person : 

Tell them, when that my mother went with child 85 

Of that insatiate Edward, noble York 

My princely father then had wars in France ; 

And, by just computation of the time, 

Found that the issue was not his begot ; 

Which well appeared in his lineaments, 90 

Being nothing like the noble duke my father. 

Yet touch this sparingly, as 't were far off ; 

Because, my lord, you know my mother lives. 

Buckingham. Doubt not, my lord, I '11 play the orator 
As if the golden fee for which I plead 95 

Were for myself ; and so, my lord, adieu. 

82-83. raging . . . lusted Ff | lustful . . . listed Qq. 

74. Infer: introduce, bring forward. The original (Latin) mean- 
ing. So in III, vii, 12, 32 ; IV, iv, 343 ; V, iii, 314. 

75. citizen. This person was a merchant dwelling in Cheapside, 
called Walker according to Stow, Burdet according to Hall. These 
topics of Edward's cruelty, lust, and unlawful marriage are enlarged 
on in that most extraordinary invective, the petition presented to 
Richard before his accession, which was afterwards turned into an 
Act of Parliament. 



/ 



96 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Gloucester. If you thrive well, bring them to Baynard's 
Castle, 
Where you shall find me well accompanied 
With reverend fathers and well-learned bishops. 

Buckingham. I go ; and towards three or four o'clock ioo 
Look for the news that the Guildhall affords. Exit 

Gloucester. Go, Lovel, with all speed to Doctor Shaw ; 
[To Catesby] Go thou to Friar Penker ; bid them both 
Meet me within this hour at Baynard's Castle. 

Exeiuit [Lovel, Catesby, and Ratcliff] 
Now will I in to take some privy order, 105 

To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight ; 
And to give notice that no manner person 
Have any time recourse unto the princes. Exit 

102-104. Qq omit. 107. notice Qq | order Ff. 

97. Baynard's Castle. This castle was built by Baynard, a noble- 
man who is said to have come into England with William the Con- 
queror. It stood on the bank of the Thames, not far from St. Paul's, 
and was totally destroyed in the Great Fire, 1666. 

99. bishops. They appear after III, vii, 94. 

102-103. Shaw . . . Penker. " Of spirituall men they tooke such 
as had wit, and were in authoritie among the people for opinion of 
their learning, and had no scrupulous conscience. Among these had 
they Iohn Shaw clearke brother to the maior, and frier Penker, pro- 
vinciall of the Augustine friers both doctors of divinitie, both great 
preachers, both of more learning than virtue, of more fame than 
learning." — Holinshed. 

106. brats of Clarence. Edward, known afterwards as Earl of War- 
wick, and Margaret, afterwards the wife of Sir Richard Pole, who 
was the last princess of the House of Lancaster. 

107. manner person : manner of person. The reading of the later 
Quartos and the Folios. The First and Second Quartos have 'man- 
ner of person.' Cf. 'manner vessels,' Revelation, xviii, 12 (King 
James Bible). 



scene vi KING RICHARD THE THIRD 97 

Scene VI. [The same. A street] 
Enter a Scrivener with a paper in his hand 

Scrivener. Here is the indictment of the good Lord 
Hastings, 
Which in a set hand fairly is engross 'd, 
That it may be to-day read o'er in Paul's. • 

And mark how well the sequel hangs together : 
Eleven hours I 've spent to write it over, 5 

For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me. 
The precedent was full as long a-doing ; 
And yet within these five hours Hastings liv'd, 
Untainted, unexamin'd, free, at liberty. 
Here 's a good world the while ! Why, who 's so gross 10 
That cannot see this palpable device ? 
Yet who so bold, but says he sees it not ? 
Bad is the world ; and all will come to nought 
When such ill dealing must be seen in thought. Exit 

12. bold Ff I blind Qq. 

1. Enter a Scrivener. A ' scrivener ' is a writer, or scribe. The 
term was applied to a class of men whose special business it was to 
draw up or to transcribe legal writings and instruments. Milton's 
father was known officially as a scrivener. 

2. engross'd : copied in a large, legible hand for public use. 

3. Paul's. St. Paul's Cathedral was used as a kind of exchange, 
and all sorts of notices were posted there for the public eye. The 
edifice was not used in Shakespeare's time, as it had been set on 
fire by a stroke of lightning and the roof burnt off early in Elizabeth's 
reign. The present St. Paul's was not built till the time of Charles II. 

7. precedent : original draft from which a copy is made. 

9. Untainted : unaccused, free from any stigma. 

14. in thought : in silence, without knowledge or detection. 



98 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Scene VII. [Baynard's Castle'] 

Enter Gloucester and Buckingham, at several doors 

Gloucester. How now, how now ! what say the citizens ? 

Buckingham. Now, by the holy mother of our Lord, 
The citizens are mum, say not a word. 

Gloucester. Touch'd you the bastardy of Edward's 
children ? 

Buckingham. I did ; with his contract with Lady Lucy, 
And his contract by deputy in France ; 6 

The insatiate greediness of his desires, 
And his enforcement of the city wives ; 
His tyranny for trifles ; his own bastardy, 
As being got, your father then in France, 10 

And his resemblance, being not like the duke. 
Withal I did infer your lineaments, 
Being the right idea of your father, 

5-6 his contract ... in France Ff I Qq omit. 8, n, 37. Qq omit. 

5. Lady Lucy. When Edward was about to marry Lady Elizabeth 
Grey, his mother tried to prevail upon Lady Elizabeth Lucy to come 
forward and say that she had been privately married to the king. 
When, however, Lady Lucy " was solemnlie sworn to saie the truth, 
she confessed that they were never ensured." In his speech to the 
citizens Buckingham set this denial aside, and declared that " the 
children of King Edward the fourth were never lawfullie begotten, 
for so much as the king (leaving his verie wife dame Elizabeth Lucie) 
was never lawfullie married unto the queene their mother." 

6. deputy in France. The deputy was Warwick, who went to France 
and arranged a marriage between Edward and Bona, sister-in-law to 
the King of France. Cf. line 182. 

12. infer: introduce. So in line 32. Cf. Ill, v, 74; IV, iv, 343; 
V, hi, 314. 

13. idea : image, likeness. The original (Greek) meaning. 



scene vii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 99 

Both in your form and nobleness of mind ; 

Laid open all your victories in Scotland, 15 

Your discipline in war, wisdom in peace, 

Your bounty, virtue, fair humility ; 

Indeed, left nothing fitting for the purpose 

Untouch'd, or slightly handled, in discourse: 

And, when my oratory drew toward end, 20 

I bid them that did love their country's good 

Cry, * God save Richard, England's royal king ! ' 

Gloucester. And did they so ? 

Buckingham. No, so God help me, they spake not a word, 
But, like dumb statues or breathing stones, 25 

Star'd each on other, and look'd deadly pale ; 
Which when I saw, I reprehended them, 
And ask'd the mayor what meant this wilful silence. 
His answer was, the people were not us'd 
To be spoke to but by the recorder. 30 

Then he was urg'd to tell my tale again : 
1 Thus saith the duke, thus hath the duke inferr'd ' ; 
But nothing spake in warrant from himself. 
When he had done, some followers of mine own 
At lower end o' the hall hurl'd up their caps, 35 

And some ten voices cried, ' God save King Richard ! ' 
And thus I took the vantage of those few : 
1 Thanks, gentle citizens and friends,' quoth I ; 
1 This general applause and cheerful shout 
Argues your wisdom and your love to Richard ' : 40 

And even here brake off, and came away. 

24. they . . . word Ff I Qq omit. 25. statues QqFf | statuas Steevens. 

25. statues. Occasionally trisyllabic in Elizabethan verse. 



IOO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Gloucester. What tongueless blocks were they ! would 

they not speak ? 
Buckingham. No, by my troth, my lord. 
Gloucester. Will not the mayor then and his brethren 

come ? 
Buckingham. The mayor is here at hand. Intend some 
fear ; 45 

Be not you spoke with but by mighty suit ; 
And look you get a prayer-book in your hand, 
And stand between two churchmen, good my lord ; 
For on that ground I '11 make a holy descant ; 
And be not easily won to our request ; 50 

Play the maid's part ; still answer nay, and take it. 

Gloucester. I go ; and if you plead as well for them 
As I can say nay to thee for myself, 
No doubt we '11 bring it to a happy issue. 

Buckingham. Go, go, up to the leads ; the lord mayor 
knocks. Exit [Gloucester] 55 

Enter the Mayor and Citizens 

Welcome, my lord ! I dance attendance here ; 
I think the duke will not be spoke withal. 

E?iter Catesby [from the castle~\ 

Now, Catesby, what says your lord to my request ? 
Catesby. He doth entreat your grace, my noble lord, 

43. Ff omit. 

45. Intend : pretend. Cf. Ill, v, 8, and see note. 
49. ' Ground ' and ' descant ' are technical terms in music ; the 
former meaning the original air, the latter the variations. 
55. leads : flat roof covered with lead. 
57. withal. An emphatic form of 'with.' See Abbott, § 196. 



scene vii KING RICHARD THE THIRD IOI 

To visit him to-morrow or next day. 60 

He is within, with two right reverend fathers, 

Divinely bent to meditation ; 

And in no worldly suit would he be mov'd, 

To draw him from his holy exercise. 

Buckingham. Return, good Catesby, to the gracious duke ; 
Tell him, myself, the mayor and aldermen, 66 

In deep designs and matters of great moment, 
No less importing than our general good, 
Are come to have some conference with his grace. 69 

Catesby. I '11 signify so much unto him straight. Exit 

Buckingham. Ah, ha, my lord, this prince is not an 
Edward ! 
He is not lolling on a lewd day-bed, 
But on his knees at meditation ; 
Not dallying with a brace of courtezans, 
But meditating with two deep divines ; 75 

Not sleeping, to engross his idle body, 
But praying, to enrich his watchful soul. 
Happy were England would this virtuous prince 
Take on himself the sovereignty thereof ; 
But, sure, I fear we shall not win him to it. 80 

Mayor. Marry, God defend his grace should say us nay ! 

Buckingham. I fear he will. Here Catesby comes again. 

Re-enter Catesby 

Now, Catesby, what says his grace ? 

72. day-bed Qq | love bed Ff. 82. Here . . . again Ff I Qq omit. 

76. engross : make gross, fatten, pamper. See Abbott, § 440. 
81. defend: forbid. So in line 173. CI. Much Ado About Nothing, 
II, i, 98. 



102 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act in 

Catesby. He wonders to what end you have assembled 
Such troops of citizens to come to him, 85 

His grace not being warn'd thereof before ; 
He fears, my lord, you mean no good to him. 

Buckingham. Sorry I am my noble cousin should 
Suspect me, that I mean no good to him : 
By heaven, we come to him in perfect love ; 90 

And so once more return and tell his grace. Exit Catesby 
When holy and devout religious men 
Are at their beads, 't is much to draw them thence, 
So sweet is zealous contemplation. 94 

E?iter Gloucester aloft, between two Bishops. 
[Catesby returns] 

Mayor. See, where his grace stands 'tween two clergymen ! 

Buckingham. Two props of virtue for a Christian prince, 
To stay him from the fall of vanity ; 
And, see, a book of prayer in his hand, 
True ornament to know a holy man. 

Famous Plantagenet, most gracious prince, 100 

Lend favourable ear to our request ; 
And pardon us the interruption 
Of thy devotion and right Christian zeal. 

Gloucester. My lord, there needs no such apology ; 
I rather do beseech you pardon me, 105 

Who, earnest in the service of my God, 
Neglect the visitation of my friends. 
But, leaving this, what is your grace's pleasure ? 

98, 99, 120, 127. Qq omit. 
98. prayer. Here dissyllabic. See Abbott, §§ 477-479. 



scene vii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 103 

Buckingham. Even that, I hope, which pleasethGod above, 
And all good men of this ungovern'd isle. no 

Gloucester. I do suspect I have done some offence 
That seems disgracious in the city's eye ; 
And that you come to reprehend my ignorance. 

Buckingham. You have, my lord : would it might please 
your grace, 
On our entreaties, to amend your fault ! 115 

Gloucester. Else wherefore breathe I in a Christian land ? 

Buckingham. Know then, it is your fault that you resign 
The supreme seat, the throne majestical, 
The scept'red office of your ancestors, 

Your state of fortune and your due of birth, 120 

The lineal glory of your royal house, 
To the corruption of a blemish'd stock ; 
Whilst, in the mildness of your sleepy thoughts, 
Which here we waken to our country's good, 
This noble isle doth want her proper limbs ; 125 

Her face defac'd with scars of infamy, 
Her royal stock graft with ignoble plants, 
And almost should'red in the swallowing gulf 
Of dark forgetfulness and deep oblivion. 
Which to recure, we heartily solicit 130 

127. graft : grafted. This form is quite correct, as the present 
was originally ' graff.' Cf. Rosalind's reply to Touchstone, As You 
Like It, III, ii, 124-125 : " I '11 graff it with you, and then I shall graff 
it with a medlar." 

128. should'red in : pushed into (as with the shoulder). 

130. recure : recover. Spenser has the word in the same sense. 
Cf. The Faerie Queene, II, xii, 19 : 

Whose mariners and merchants with much toyle 
Labour'd in vaine to have recur'd their prize. 



104 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Your gracious self to take on you the charge 

And kingly government of this your land ; 

Not as protector, steward, substitute, 

Or lowly factor for another's gain ; 

But as successively from blood to blood, 135 

Your right of birth, your empery, your own. 

For this, consorted with the citizens, 

Your very worshipful and loving friends, 

And by their vehement instigation, 

In this just suit come I to move your grace. 140 

Gloucester. I cannot tell, if to depart in silence, 
Or bitterly to speak in your reproof, 
Best fitteth my degree or your condition : 
If not to answer, you might haply think 
Tongue-tied ambition, not replying, yielded 145 

To bear the golden yoke of sovereignty, 
Which fondly you would here impose on me ; 
If to reprove you for this suit of yours, 
So season'd with your faithful love to me, 
Then, on the other side, I check'd my friends. 1 50 

Therefore, to speak and to avoid the first, 
And then, in speaking, not to incur the last, 
Definitely thus I answer you. 
Your love deserves my thanks ; but my desert 
Unmeritable shuns your high request. 1 55 

First, if all obstacles were cut away, 
And that my path were even to the crown, 
As the ripe revenue and due of birth, 

131-132. the charge . . . land Ff | the soueraigntie thereof Qq. 
I 44-i53- Qq omit. 

155. Unmeritable. For the suffix ' -ble,' active, see Abbott, §§3, 445. 



scene vii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 105 

Yet so much is my poverty of spirit, 

So mighty and so many my defects, 160 

That I would rather hide me from my greatness, 

Being a bark to brook no mighty sea, 

Than in my greatness covet to be hid, 

And in the vapour of my glory smother'd. 

But, God be thank'd, there is no need of me ; 165 

And much I need, to help you, were there need. 

The royal tree hath left us royal fruit, 

Which, mellow'd by the stealing hours of time, 

Will well become the seat of majesty, 

And make, no doubt, us happy by his reign. 170 

On him I lay what you would lay on me, 

The right and fortune of his happy stars ; 

Which God defend that I should wring from him ! 

Buckingham. My lord, this argues conscience in your 
grace ; 
But the respects thereof are nice and trivial, 175 

All circumstances well considered. 
You say that Edward is your brother's son : 
So say we too, but not by Edward's wife ; 
For first he was contract to Lady Lucy — 
Your mother lives a witness to his vow — 180 

And afterward by substitute betroth'd 
To Bona, sister to the King of France. 
These both put by, a poor petitioner, 
A care-craz'd mother of a many children, 
A beauty-waning and distressed widow, 185 

166. And I fall short of ability to help you, if help were needed. 
175. respects: considerations. — nice: unimportant. 
183-185. This scene is described in 3 Henry VI, III, ii. 



I06 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

Even in the afternoon of her best days, 

Made prize and purchase of his wanton eye, 

Seduc'd the pitch and height of his degree 

To base declension and loath'd bigamy. 

By her, in his unlawful bed, he got 190 

This Edward, whom our manners call the prince. 

More bitterly could I expostulate, 

Save that, for reverence to some alive, 

I give a sparing limit to my tongue. 

Then, good my lord, take to your royal self 195 

This proffer'd benefit of dignity ; 

If not to bless us and the land withal, 

Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry 

From the corruption of abusing times 

Unto a lineal true-derived course. 200 

Mayor. Do, good my lord ; your citizens entreat you. 

Buckingham. Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffer'd love. 

Catesby. O, make them joyful, grant their lawful suit ! 

Gloucester. Alas, why would you heap this care on me ? 
I am unfit for state and majesty. 205 

I do beseech you, take it not amiss ; 
I cannot nor I will not yield to you. 

Buckingham. If you refuse it, — as, in love and zeal, 
Loth to depose the child, your brother's son ; 
As well we know your tenderness of heart, 210 

And gentle, kind, effeminate remorse, 
Which we have noted in you to your kindred, 
And equally indeed to all estates, — 

202. Qq omit. 

x 95- g°°d niy lord : my good lord. Often so. 

211. remorse: pity, compassion. Cf. 'remorseful,' I, ii, 155. 



scene vii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 107 

Yet whether you accept our suit or no, 
Your brother's son shall never reign our king ; 215 

But we will plant some other in the throne, 
To the disgrace and downfall of your house. 
And in this resolution here we leave you. 
Come, citizens, 'zounds ! I '11 entreat no more. 219 

Gloucester. O, do not swear, my Lord of Buckingham. 
Exit Buckingham [the Mayor, Aldermen, and 

Citizens retiring] 
Catesby. Call them again, sweet prince, accept their suit ; 
If you deny them, all the land will rue it. 

Gloucester. Will you enforce me to a world of cares ? 
Call them again. 

[Catesby goes to the Mayor, &>c, and then exit] 
I am not made of stone, 
But penetrable to your kind entreats, 225 

Albeit against my conscience and my soul. 

Re-enter Buckingham [Catesby] and the rest 

Cousin of Buckingham, and sage, grave men, 

Since you will buckle fortune on my back, 

To bear her burden, whether I will or no, 

I must have patience to endure the load : 230 

But if black scandal or foul-fac'd reproach 

Attend the sequel of your imposition, 

Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me 

From all the impure blots and stains thereof ; 

219. 'zounds ! I'll entreat. The Folios read 'we will entreat' and 
omit the next line. See note, I, iv, 125. 

233. mere enforcement : absolute compulsion. — acquittance: acquit. 



108 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act hi 

For God he knows, and you may partly see, 235 

How far I am from the desire of this. 

Mayor. God bless your grace ! we see it, and will say it. 

Gloucester. In saying so, you shall but say the truth. 

Buckingham. Then I salute you with this royal title : 
Long live King Richard, England's worthy king ! 240 

All. Amen. 

Buckingham. To-morrow may it please you to be crown'd ? 

Gloucester. Even when you please, since you will have 
it so. 

Buckingham. To-morrow, then, we will attend your grace ; 
And so most joyfully we take our leave. 245 

Gloucester. [To the Bishops] Come, let us to our holy 
work again. — 
Farewell, good cousin ; farewell, gentle friends. Exeunt 

239. royal Ff | kingly Qq. 245- Qq omit. 

240. worthy Ff | royal Qq. 247. good cousin Qq| my cousins Ff. 

235. God he. The idiomatic insertion of the redundant pronoun is 
frequent after a proper name as the subject. "The subject or object 
stands first, like the title of a book, to call the attention of the reader 
to what may be said about it." — Abbott, § 243. 

247. good cousin. This, the Quarto reading, is more appropriate 
than the ' my cousins ' of the Folios. Buckingham is the only person 
present whom Richard can with propriety address in this way. 



ACT IV 

Scene I. [London. Before tJie Tower] 

Enter Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of York, and 
Marquess of Dorset at one door ; Anne, Duchess 
of Gloucester [leading Lady Margaret Plantage- 
net, Clarence's young Daughter] at another door 

Duchess. Who meets us here ? my niece Plantagenet, 
Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Gloucester ? 
Now, for my life, she 's wandering to the Tower, 
On pure heart's love, to greet the tender princes. 
Daughter, well met. 

Anne. God give your graces both 5 

A happy and a joyful time of day ! 

Queen Elizabeth. As much to you, good sister ! Whither 
away? 

Anne. No farther than the Tower ; and, as I guess, 
Upon the like devotion as yourselves, 
To gratulate the gentle princes there. 10 

2-6. Qq omit. 

1. Enter . . . Anne, Duchess of Gloucester. "We have not 
seen this lady since the second scene of the first act, in which she 
promised to meet Richard at Crosby Place. She was married to him 
about the year 1472." — Malone. — niece. The Duchess is speaking 
to what we should call her ' granddaughter.' See note, II, ii, 8. 

9. like devotion as. Similarly in the Prologue to Troihts and Cres- 
sida, line 25 : "In like conditions as our argument." 

10. gratulate : greet, salute. 

_ 109 



IIO THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Queen Elizabeth. Kind sister, thanks ; we '11 enter all 
together : 

Enter the lieutenant [Brakenbury] 

And, in good time, here the lieutenant comes. 

Master lieutenant, pray you, by your leave, 

How doth the prince, and my young son of York ? 14 

Brakenbury. Right well, dear madam. By your patience, 
I may not suffer you to visit them ; 
The king hath straitly charg'd the contrary. 

Queen Elizabeth. The king ! who 's that ? 

Brakenbury. I mean the lord protector. 

Queen Elizabeth. The Lord protect him from that kingly 
title ! 
Hath he set bounds between their love and me ? 20 

I am their mother ; who shall bar me from them ? 

Duchess. I am their father's mother ; I will see them. 

Anne. Their aunt I am in law, in love their mother : 
Then bring me to their sights ; I '11 bear thy blame, 
And take thy office from thee, on my peril. 25 

Brakenbury. No, madam, no ; I may not leave it so : 
I'm bound by oath, and therefore pardon me. Exit 

Enter Lord Stanley 

Stanley. Let me but meet you, ladies, one hour hence, 
And I '11 salute your grace of York as mother, 
And reverend looker-on of two fair queens. 30 

18. The Quartos insert ' I cry you mercy.' 

24. sights. Plural because more than one person is referred to. 

25. thy office. Brakenbury was official keeper of the Tower. 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD in 

[To Anne] Come, madam, you must straight to Westminster, 
There to be crowned Richard's royal queen. 

Queen Elizabeth. O, cut my lace asunder, 
That my pent heart may have some scope to beat, 
Or else I swoon with this dead-killing news ! 35 

Anne. Despiteful tidings ! O unpleasing news ! 

Dorset. Be of good cheer ; mother, how fares your grace ? 

Queen Elizabeth. O Dorset, speak not to me, get thee 
hence ! 
Death and destruction dog thee at the heels ; 
Thy mother's name is ominous to children. 40 

If thou wilt outstrip death, go cross the seas, 
And live with Richmond, from the reach of hell. 
Go, hie thee, hie thee from this slaughter-house, 
Lest thou increase the number of the dead ; 
And make me die the thrall of Margaret's curse, 45 

Nor mother, wife, nor England's counted queen. 

Stanley. Full of wise care is this your counsel, madam. 
Take all the swift advantage of the hours ; 
You shall have letters from me to my son 
In your behalf, to meet you on the way : 50 

Be not ta'en tardy by unwise delay. 

Duchess. O ill-dispersing wind of misery ! 
O my accursed womb, the bed of death ! 
A cockatrice hast thou hatch'd to the world, 
Whose unavoided eye is murderous. 55 

36. Qq omit. 

54. cockatrice. So called from its fabled generation from the egg of 
a cock. ' Cockatrice,' it seems, was but another name for the 'basi- 
lisk.' Cf. Sir Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errors, III, vii : " Many opin- 
ions are passant concerning the basilisk, or little king of serpents, 



112 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Stanley. Come, madam, come ; I in all haste was sent. 

Anne. And I in all unwillingness will go. 
O, would to God that the inclusive verge 
Of golden metal that must round my brow 
Were red-hot steel to sear me to the brain ! 60 

Anointed let me be with deadly venom ; 
And die ere men can say, ' God save the queen ! ' 

Queen Elizabeth. Go, go, poor soul, I envy not thy glory; 
To feed my humour, wish thyself no harm. 

Anne. No ! why ? When he that is my husband now 65 
Came to me, as I follow'd Henry's corse ; 
When scarce the blood was well wash'd from his hands 
Which issu'd from my other angel husband, 
And that dead saint which then I weeping follow'd ; 
O, when, I say, I look'd on Richard's face, 70 

This was my wish : * Be thou,' quoth I, ' accurs'd, 
For making me, so young, so old a widow ! 
And, when thou wedd'st, let sorrow haunt thy bed ; 
And be thy wife — if any be so mad — 
More miserable by the life of thee 75 

58. Ff I I Qq. 75. life Ff I death Qq. 

commonly called the cockatrice." And again : "As for the generation 
of the basilisk, that it proceedeth from a cock's egg, hatched under 
a toad or serpent, it is a conceit as monstrous as the brood itself." 
See note, I, ii, 150. Cf. Romeo and Juliet, III, ii, 47 : "the death- 
darting eye of cockatrice." 

60. red-hot steel . . . brain. She seems to allude to the ancient 
mode of punishing a regicide or other criminal by placing upon his 
head a crown of iron heated red-hot. In some of the monkish 
accounts of a place of future torments, a ' burning crown ' is like- 
wise appropriated to those who deprived any lawful monarch of his 
kingdom. The Earl of Athol, who was executed for the murder of 
James I, King of Scots, was crowned with hot iron. 



scene I KING RICHARD THE THIRD 113 

Than thou hast made me by my dear lord's death 1 ' 

Lo, ere I can repeat this curse again, 

Even in so short a space, my woman's heart 

Grossly grew captive to his honey words, 

And prov'd the subject of mine own soul's curse, 80 

Which ever since hath kept mine eyes from rest ; 

For never yet one hour in his bed 

Have I enjoy 'd the golden dew of sleep, 

But have been waked by his timorous dreams. 

Besides, he hates me for my father Warwick, 85 

And will, no doubt, shortly be rid of me. 

Queen Elizabeth. Poor heart, adieu ! I pity thy com- 
plaining. 
Anne. No more than from my soul I mourn for yours. 
Queen Elizabeth. Farewell, thou woeful welcomer of 

glory ! 
Anne. Adieu, poor soul, that tak'st thy leave of it ! 90 
Duchess. [To Dorset] Go thou to Richmond, and good 
fortune guide thee ! 
[To Anne] Go thou to Richard, and good angels tend thee ! 
[To Elizabeth] Go thou to sanctuary, and good thoughts 
possess thee ! 

92 tend Ff I guard Qq. 

82. hour. Dissyllabic here, as also in V, iii, 31. 

83. golden. Cf. ' leaden ' as an attribute of sleep, V, iii, 105. 

84. waked . . . dreams. The old chroniclers all agree in their 
accounts of Richard's disturbed nights. " He tooke ill rest a nights, 
laie long waking and musing, sore wearied with care and watch, rather 
slumbered than slept, troubled with fearfull dreames, suddenlie some- 
time start up, lept out of his bed, and ran about the chamber ; so was 
his restless heart continuallie tossed and tumbled with the tedious 
impression and stormie remembrance of his abhominable deeds." — 
timorous : fearful. Cf. Othello, I, i, 75. 



114 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

I to my grave, where peace and rest lie with me ! 

Eighty odd years of sorrow have I seen, 95 

And each hour's joy wreck 'd with a week of teen. 

Queen Elizabeth. Stay yet, look back with me unto the 
Tower. 
Pity, you ancient stones, those tender babes, 
Whom envy hath immur'd within your walls ! 
Rough cradle for such little pretty ones ! 100 

Rude ragged nurse, old sullen playfellow 
For tender princes, use my babies well ! 
So foolish sorrow bids your stones farewell. Exeimt 

Scene II. [The same. A room of state in the palaee~\ 

Sennet. Enter Richard, in pomp crowiied ; Buckingham, 
Catesby [a Page, and others] 

King Richard. Stand all apart. Cousin of Buckingham ! 
Buckingham. My gracious sovereign ? 
King Richard. Give me thy hand. 

Here he ascendeth the throfie. Sound 
Thus high, by thy advice 
And thy assistance, is King Richard seated. 
But shall we wear these honours for a day ? 5 

Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them ? 

Buckingham. Still live they, and for ever let them last ! 

97-103. Qq omit. 2. Qq omit. 

95. Eighty odd years. The Duchess was only sixty-eight at this 
time, but there is dramatic effectiveness in exaggerating the age to 
increase the pathos of the situation. 

96. teen : affliction, grief. Cf. The Tempest, I, ii, 64. 
99. envy : malice. See note, I, iii, 26. 

101. ragged : rough. Cf. As You Like It, II, v, 15. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 115 

King Richard. Ah, Buckingham, now do I play the touch, 
To try if thou be current gold indeed : 
Young Edward lives ; think now what I would speak. 10 

Buckingham. Say on, my loving lord. 

King Richard. Why, Buckingham, I say, I would be king. 

Buckingham. Why, so you are, my thrice-renowned liege. 

King Richard. Ha ! am I king ? 't is so ; but Edward 
lives. 

Buckingham. True, noble prince. 

King Richard. O bitter consequence, 

That Edward still should live ! ' True, noble prince 1 ' 16 
Cousin, thou wert not wont to be so dull. 
Shall I be plain ? I wish the bastards dead, 
And I would have it suddenly perform'd. 
What say'st thou now ? speak suddenly, be brief. 20 

Buckingham. Your grace may do your pleasure. 

King Richard. Tut, tut, thou art all ice, thy kindness 
freezes. 
Say, have I thy consent that they shall die ? 

Buckingham. Give me some breath, some little pause, 
my lord, 
Before I positively speak herein ; 25 

I will resolve your grace immediately. Exit 

Catesby. [Aside to another] The king is angry ; see, he 
gnaws his lip. 

King Richard. I will converse with iron-witted fools 

27. gnaws Ff I bites Qq. 

8. play the touch : do the office of the touchstone. Cf. Pericles, 
II, ii, 37 : "gold that's by the touchstone tried." 

26. resolve: inform, satisfy. So in line 119 and in IV, v, 22. 

27. The chroniclers mention this as a habit of Richard's. 



Il6 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

And unrespective boys : none are for me 

That look into me with considerate eyes. 30 

High-reaching Buckingham grows circumspect. 

Boy! 

Page. My lord ? 

King Richard. Know'st thou not any whom corrupting 
gold 
Would tempt unto a close exploit of death ? 35 

Page. I know a discontented gentleman, 
Whose humble means match not his haughty mind ; 
Gold were as good as twenty orators, 
And will, no doubt, tempt him to anything. 

King Richard. What is his name ? 

Page. His name, my lord, is Tyrrel. 40 

King Richard. I partly know the man : go call him 
hither. — Exit Page 

The deep-revolving witty Buckingham 
No more shall be the neighbour to my counsels. 
Hath he so long held out with me untir'd, 
And stops he now for breath ? well, be it so. 45 

Enter Stanley 

How now, Lord Stanley, what 's the news ? 

Stanley. Know, my loving lord, 
The Marquis Dorset, as I hear, is fled 
To Richmond, in the parts where he abides. 49 

King Richard. Come hither, Catesby : rumour it abroad 
That Anne, my wife, is very grievous sick ; 

45. well ... so. Qq omit. 

29. unrespective : inconsiderate. Cf. ' respects,' III, vii, 175. 
42. witty: cunning, artful. Cf. 'wit,' III, i, 50. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 117 

I will take order for her keeping close. 

Inquire me out some mean poor gentleman, 

Whom I will marry straight to Clarence' daughter ; 

The boy is foolish, and I fear not him. 55 

Look, how thou dream'st ! I say again, give out 

That Anne my queen is sick and like to die. 

About it ; for it stands me much upon 

To stop all hopes whose growth may damage me. 

[Exit Catesby] 
I must be married to my brother's daughter, 60 

Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass. 
Murder her brothers, and then marry her 1 
Uncertain way of gain ! But I am in 
So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin. 
Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye. 65 

Re-enter [Page, with Sir James Tyrrel] 

Is thy name Tyrrel ? 

Tyrrel. James Tyrrel, and your most obedient subject. 
King Richard. Art thou indeed ? 

Tyrrel. Prove me, my gracious sovereign. 

King Richard. Dar'st thou resolve to kill a friend of mine ? 

55. The boy is foolish. This youth, who is known in history as 
Edward, Earl of Warwick, was now about ten years old. He was put 
to death by Henry VII, in 1499; he being then the only surviving 
male of the Plantagenet name. The chroniclers represent him as 
little better than an imbecile, but his stupidity was most likely the 
result of cruel treatment. After the battle of Bosworth he was kept 
in solitary confinement and his education totally neglected. It was 
to the interest of the reigning powers to make him ' foolish,' or at 
least to have him regarded as so. 

58. stands me . . . upon : is of the utmost importance to me. 



Il8 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Tyrrel. Ay, my lord ; 70 

But I had rather kill two enemies. 

King Richard. Why, there thou hast it; two deep enemies, 
Foes to my rest and my sweet sleep's disturbers, 
Are they that I would have thee deal upon. 
Tyrrel, I mean those bastards in the Tower. 75 

Tyrrel. Let me have open means to come to them, 
And soon I '11 rid you from the fear of them. 

King Richard. Thou sing'st sweet music. Hark, come 
hither, Tyrrel ; 
Go, by this token. Rise, and lend thine ear. Whispers 

There is no more but so ; say it is done, 80 

And I will love thee, and prefer thee for it. 

Tyrrel. I will dispatch it straight. 

King Richard. Shall we hear from thee,Tyrrel, ere we sleep ? 

Tyrrel. Ye shall, my lord. Exit 

Re-e7iter Buckingham 

Buckingham. My lord, I have consider'd in my mind 85 
The late demand that you did sound me in. 

King Richard. Well, let that rest. Dorset is fled to 
Richmond. 

Buckingham. I hear the news, my lord. 

King Richard. Stanley, he is your wife's son ; well, 
look to it. 

Buckingham. My lord, I claim the gift, my due by promise, 
For which your honour and your faith is pawn'd ; 91 

Th' earldom of Hereford and the movables 
The which you promised I should possess. 

82. I . . . straight Ff | 'T is done, my gracious lord Qq. 
83-84. Pf omit. 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 119 

King Richard. Stanley, look to your wife ; if she convey 
Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it. 95 

Buckingham. What says your highness to my just request ? 

King Richard. I do remember me, Henry the Sixth 
Did prophesy that Richmond should be king, 
When Richmond was a little peevish boy. 
A king, perhaps, perhaps, — 100 

Buckingham. My lord ! 

King Richard. How chance the prophet could not at 
that time 
Have told me, I being by, that I should kill him ? 

Buckingham. My lord, your promise for the earldom, — 

King Richard. Richmond ! When last I was at Exeter, 
The mayor in courtesy show'd me the castle, 106 

And calPd it Rougemont ; at which name I started, 
Because a bard of Ireland told me once, 
I should not live long after I saw Richmond. 

Buckingham. My lord! no 

King Richard. Ay, what 's o'clock ? 

Buckingham. I am thus bold to put your grace in mind 
Of what you promis'd me. 

King Richard. Well, but what's o'clock ? 

Buckingham. Upon the stroke of ten. 

King Richard. Well, let it strike. 

Buckingham. Why let it strike ? 115 

King Richard. Because that, like a Jack, thou keep'st 
the stroke 

100-120. perhaps . . . tut Oq | Buck. May it please you to resolve me 
in my suit. Rich. Ff . 

116. Jack : jack of the clock. This was a little figure that struck 
the hours with a hammer. Richard compares Buckingham to such 
an automaton, and bids him not to suspend the stroke on the bell. 



120 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE ACT IV 

Betwixt thy begging and my meditation. 
I am not in the giving vein to-day. 

Buckingham. Why, then resolve me whether you will 
or no. 

King Richard. Tut, tut, thou troublest me; I am not 
in the vein. Exeunt all but Buckingham 120 

Buckingham. Is it even so ? rewards he my true service 
With such contempt ? made I him king for this ? 
O, let me think on Hastings, and be gone 
To Brecknock, while my fearful head is on ! Exit 

Scene III. [Another room in the palace\ 
Enter Tyrrel 

*Tyrrel. The tyrannous and bloody act is done, 
The most arch deed of piteous massacre 
That ever yet this land was guilty of. 
Dighton and Forrest, whom I did suborn 
To do this ruthless piece of butchery, 5 

Albeit they were flesh'd villains, bloody dogs, 
Melting with tenderness and mild compassion, 
Wept like two children in their death's sad story. 
' O, thus,' quoth Dighton, ' lay the gentle babes,' — 
1 Thus, thus,' quoth Forrest, ' girdling one another 10 

Within their alabaster innocent arms : 

124. Brecknock. The name of Buckingham's castle in Wales. 
6. flesh'd: inured to bloodshed. Cf. Henry V, III, iii, 11 : "And 
the flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart" ; Drayton's Miseries of 
Queen Margaret : 

Both which were fiesht abundantly with blood 
In those three battles they had won before. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 121 

Their lips were four red roses on a stalk, 

Which in their summer beauty kiss'd each other. 

A book of prayers on their pillow lay ; 

Which once,' quoth Forrest, ' almost chang'd my mind ; 15 

But, O, the devil ' — there the villain stopp'd ; 

When Dighton thus told on : 'We smothered 

The most replenished sweet work of nature, 

That from the prime creation e'er she fram'd.' 

Hence both are gone with conscience and remorse, 20 

They could not speak ; and so I left them both, 

To bear this tidings to the bloody king. 

And here he comes. 

Enter King Richard 

All health, my sovereign lord ! 

King Richard. Kind Tyrrel, am I happy in thy news ? 

Tyrrel. If to have done the thing you gave in charge 25 
Beget your happiness, be happy then, 
For it is done. 

King Richard. But didst thou see them dead ? 

Tyrrel. I did, my lord. 

King Richard. And buried, gentle Tyrrel ? 

Tyrrel. The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them ; 
But where, to say the truth, I do not know. 3° 

King Richard. Come to me, Tyrrel, soon at after-supper, 
When thou shalt tell the process of their death. 
Meantime, but think how I may do thee good, 

13. Which Q1Q5 I And Ff. 30. where . . . truth Ff | how or 

in what plate Qq. 

31. after-supper: dessert after supper. Cf. A Midsummer Night' 's 
Dream, V, i, 34. 



122 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act IV 

And be inheritor of thy desire. 

Farewell till then. 

Tyrrel. I humbly take my leave. Exit 35 

King Richard. The son of Clarence have I pent up 
close : 

His daughter meanly have I match'd in marriage ; 

The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom, 

And Anne my wife hath bid the world good night. 

Now, for I know the Breton Richmond aims 40 

At young Elizabeth, my brother's daughter, 

And by that knot looks proudly on the crown, 

To her go I, a jolly thriving wooer. 

Enter Catesby 

Catesby. My lord ! 

King Richard. Good or bad news, that thou com'st in 
so bluntly ? 45 

Catesby. Bad news, my lord : Morton is fled to Richmond, 
And Buckingham, back'd with the hardy Welshmen, 
Is in the field, and still his power increaseth. 

King Richard. Ely with Richmond troubles me more near 
Than Buckingham and his rash-levied strength. 50 

35. Tyrrel. I . . . leave Ff | Qq omit. 

37. daughter . . . marriage. The daughter of Clarence was in fact 
married to Sir Richard Pole, and became the mother of Cardinal 
Pole. Sir Richard was half brother to the Countess of Richmond. 
— meanly : humbly (as opposed to ' nobly '). 

40. Breton. He thus names Richmond because after the battle of 
Tewksbury he had taken refuge at the court of Francis II, Duke of 
Bretagne. 

46. Morton. The Bishop of Ely. The Quartos read 'Ely.' Ely had 
been put into Buckingham's custody at Brecknock. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 123 

Come, I have learn'd that fearful commenting 

Is leaden servitor to dull delay ; 

Delay leads impotent and snail-pac'd beggary : 

Then fiery expedition be my wing, 

Jove's Mercury, and herald for a king ! 55 

Go, muster men ; my counsel is my shield. 

We must be brief, when traitors brave the field. Exeunt 

Scene IV. [The same. Before the palace'] 
Enter old Queen Margaret 

Queen Margaret. So, now prosperity begins to mellow, 
And drop into the rotten mouth of death. 
Here in these confines slily have I lurk'd, 
To watch the waning of mine enemies. 
A dire induction am I witness to, 5 

And will to France, hoping the consequence 
Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical. 
Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret : who comes here ? 

\Rctires\ 

51-52. fearful commenting . . . dull delay : cowardly negation is the 
leaden servant of dull procrastination. 

54. Let my action be winged with the speed of lightning. 

55. Jove's Mercury. Cf. 'winged Mercury,' II, i, 87. 

56. counsel . . . shield : my shield is my counsel. He means that 
he is going to debate the issue not with words, but with the sword. 

Scene IV. In this scene of the wailing queens the dramatic 
convention of lyrical lamentation is more marked than elsewhere 
in Elizabethan tragedy. "We take leave of Margaret of Anjou, 
that ' she-wolf of France,' who has been almost as much the pre- 
siding evil genius of the last two parts of Henry K/ as Richard is 
of this." — Verplanck. 

5. induction : prologue, preparation, introduction. Cf. I, i, 32. 



124 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Enter Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of York 

Queen Elizabeth. Ah, my poor princes ! ah, my tender 
babes ! 
My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets ! 10 

If yet your gentle souls fly in the air, 
And be not fix'd in doom perpetual, 
Hover about me with your airy wings, 
And hear your mother's lamentation ! 

Queen Margaret. [Aside"] Hover about her ; say, that 
right for right 15 

Hath dimm'd your infant morn to aged night. 

Duchess. So many miseries have craz'd my voice 
That my woe-wearied tongue is still and mute. 
Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead ? 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] Plantagenet doth quit 
Plantagenet, 20 

Edward for Edward pays a dying debt. 

Queen Elizabeth. Wilt thou, O God, fly from such 
gentle lambs, 
And throw them in the entrails of the wolf ? 
When didst thou sleep when such a deed was done ? 

10. unblown Qq | unblowed Ff. 20, 21, 28. Qq omit. 

r5. right for right: "justice answering to the claim of justice." 
— Johnson. Cf. line 140. 

16. aged night : the darkness that death brings to the aged. 

20. quit. The word means both 'acquit' and 'requite.' "Here 
used to express comprehensively 'requite the death of and ' acquit 
the crime of.'" — Cowden Clarke. 

21. a dying debt : a debt that can only be paid by death. 

24. Cf. the words of Macduff when he hears of the death of his 
wife and children, Macbeth, IV, iii, 223-224: " Did heaven look on 
and would not take their part ? " 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 125 

Queen Margaret. [Aside] When holy Harry died, and 
my sweet son. 25 

Duchess. Dead life, blind sight, poor mortal living ghost, 
Woe's scene, world's shame, grave's due by life usurp'd, 
Brief abstract and record of tedious days, 
Rest thy unrest on England's lawful earth, \_Sitting down] 
Unlawfully made drunk with innocent blood ! 30 

Queen Elizabeth. Ah, that thou wouldst as soon afford 
a grave 
As thou canst yield a melancholy seat ! 
Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here. 
Ah, who hath any cause to mourn but I ? 

[Sitting down by her] 

Queen Margaret. [Coming forward] If ancient sorrow 
be most reverend, 35 

Give mine the benefit of seniory, 
And let my griefs frown on the upper hand. 
If sorrow can admit society, [Sitting down with them] 

Tell o'er your woes again by viewing mine. 
I had an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him ; 40 

I had a Harry, till a Richard kill'd him : 
Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him ; 
Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard kill'd him. 

Duchess. I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him ; 
I had a Rutland too, thou holp'st to kill him. 45 

39. Tell . . . mine Qq | Ff omit. 41. Harry Camb I Henry Capell I 

Richard Qq | Husband Ff. 

20. lawful. Perhaps merely a verbal antithesis to 'unlawfully' (line 
30). Or is England regarded as the proper seat of order and law? 

35. ancient : long-standing, venerable. — reverend. Cf . IV, i, 30. 

36. seniory : seniority. The ' benefit ' referred to is priority. 

37. frown on the upper hand : take precedence over yours. 



126 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Queen Margaret. Thou hadst a Clarence too, and 
Richard kill'd him. 
From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept 
A hell-hound that doth hunt us all to death ; 
That dog that had his teeth before his eyes, 
To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood, 50 

That foul defacer of God's handiwork, 
That excellent grand tyrant of the earth, 
That reigns in galled eyes of weeping souls, 
Thy womb let loose to chase us to our graves. 
O upright, just, and true-disposing God, 55 

How do I thank thee that this carnal cur 
Preys on the issue of his mother's body, 
And makes her pew-fellow with others' moan ! 

Duchess. O Harry's wife, triumph not in my woes ! 
God witness with me, I have wept for thine. 60 

Queen Margaret. Bear with me; I am hungry for 
revenge, 
And now I cloy me with beholding it. 

49. teeth. Alluding to the tradition that Richard was born with 
teeth. Cf. II, iv, 27-28 ; 3 Henry VI, V, vi, 74-77 : 

the women cried, 
' O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth ! ' 
And so I was ; which plainly signified 
That I should snarl and bite and play the dog. 

51-52. These lines, omitted in the Quartos, are transposed in the 
Folios. Capell arranged them as in the present text. 

53. galled eyes : eyes inflamed with weeping, made red with ' eye- 
offending brine.' Cf. Hamlet, I, ii, 154-155 : 

Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears 
Had left the flushing in her galled eyes. 

56. carnal : carnivorous, blood-thirsty. And thus ' cruel.' 

58. pew-fellow: companion (literally, 'sharer of the same pew'). 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 127 

Thy Edward he is dead, that kill'd my Edward ; 

Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward ; 

Young York he is but boot, because both they 65 

Match not the high perfection of my loss. 

Thy Clarence he is dead, that stabb'd my Edward ; 

And the beholders of this tragic play, 

Th' adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey, 

Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves. 70 

Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer, 

Only reserv'd their factor to buy souls 

And send them thither ; but at hand, at hand, 

Ensues his piteous and unpitied end : 

Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray, 75 

To have him suddenly convey 'd from hence. 

Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray, 

That I may live to say, The dog is dead ! 

Queen Elizabeth. O, thou didst prophesy the time 
would come 
That I should wish for thee to help me curse 80 

That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad ! 

Queen Margaret. I call'd thee then vain flourish of 
my fortune ; 
I call'd thee then poor shadow, painted queen ; 
The presentation of but what I was, 

65. boot: anything thrown into a bargain. So in V, iii, 301. 

71. intelligencer : informer, spy, agent. Cf. 2 Henry IV, IV, ii, 20. 

72. their. Refers to 'hell' (line 71), personified as the infernal 
powers. Cf. 'them,' I, iii, 220. — factor: one who acts on behalf of 
another. 

77. bond of life. The image is of a deed or indenture securing a 
life-tenure of property. Cf. Macbeth, III, ii, 49-50: "Cancel and 
tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale ! " 



128 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

The flattering index of a direful pageant, 85 

One heaved a-high, to be hurl'd down below ; 

A mother only mock'd with two sweet babes ; 

A dream of what thou wert ; a breath, a bubble ; 

A sign of dignity, a garish flag 

To be the aim of every dangerous shot ; 90 

A queen in jest, only to fill the scene. 

Where is thy husband now ? where be thy brothers ? 

Where be thy two sons ? wherein dost thou joy ? 

Who sues to thee, and cries, * God save the queen ' ? 

Where be the bending peers that flattered thee ? 95 

Where be the thronging troops that followed thee ? 

Decline all this and see what now thou art. 

For happy wife, a most distressed widow ; 

For joyful mother, one that wails the name ; 

For queen, a very caitiff crown'd with care ; 100 

For one being sued to, one that humbly sues ; 

For one that scorn'd at me, now scorn'd of me : 

For one commanding all, obey'd of none ; 

Thus hath the course of justice wheel'd about, 

And left thee but a very prey to time ; 105 

Having no more but thought of what thou wert, 

To torture thee the more, being what thou art. 

Thou didst usurp my place, and dost thou not 

Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow ? 

100, 101. Qq I Ff transpose. 101, 102, 103. one Qq | she Ff. 

102, 103. Ff I Qq transpose. 

89-90. Alluding to " the dangerous situation of those to whose 
care the standards of armies were intrusted." — Steevens. 

97. decline : recite the cases of, run through. 

102. After this line the Folios insert ' For she being fear'd of all, 
now fearing one.' 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 129 

Now thy proud neck bears half my burden 'd yoke ; no 

From which even here I slip my wearied head, 

And leave the burden of it all on thee. 

Farewell, York's wife, and queen of sad mischance ; 

These English woes will make me smile in France. 

Queen Elizabeth. O thou well-skill'd in curses, stay 
awhile, 1 1 5 

And teach me how to curse mine enemies ! 

Queen Margaret. Forbear to sleep the night, and fast 
the day ; 
Compare dead happiness with living woe ; 
Think that thy babes were fairer than they were, 
And he that slew them fouler than he is : 120 

Bett'ring thy loss makes the bad causer worse ; 
Revolving this will teach thee how to curse. 

Queen Elizabeth. My words are dull ; O, quicken them 
with thine ! 

Queen Margaret. Thy woes will make them sharp, and 
pierce like mine. Exit 

Duchess. Why should calamity be full of words ? 125 

Queen Elizabeth. Windy attorneys to their client woes, 
Airy succeeders of intestate joys, 
Poor breathing orators of miseries ! 

121. The greater you conceive your loss to be, the worse the 
author of it will seem. — Bett'ring : exaggerating, magnifying. 

123. quicken : give life to, revive. Cf. ' quick,' I, ii, 65. 

126. Windy attorneys : words. Cf. Venus and Adonis, 335-336, 
where the tongue is the heart's attorney : 

But when the heart's attorney once is mute, 
The client breaks, as desperate in his suit. 

127-128. Airy . . . miseries: the joys have died intestate, and mere 
verbal complaints are their successors, inheriting nothing but misery. 



130 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Let them have scope ! though what they will impart 

Help nothing else, yet do they ease the heart. 130 

Duchess. If so, then be not tongue-tied ; go with me, 
And in the breath of bitter words let 's smother 
My damned son, that thy two sweet sons smother'd. 
The trumpet sounds : be copious in exclaims. 

Enter King Richard and his train, marching, with drums 
a?id trumpets 

King Richard. Who intercepts me in my expedition ? 135 
Duchess. O, she that might have intercepted thee, 
By strangling thee in her accursed womb, 
From all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast done ! 

Queen Elizabeth. Hidest thou that forehead with a 
golden crown, 
Where should be branded, if that right were right, 140 

The slaughter of the prince that ow'd that crown, 
And the dire death of my poor sons and brothers ? 
Tell me, thou villain slave, where are my children ? 

Duchess. Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother 
Clarence ? 
And little Ned Plantagenet, his son ? 145 

Queen Elizabeth. Where is the gentle Rivers, Vaughan, 

Grey? 
Duchess. Where is kind Hastings ? 
King Richard. A flourish, trumpets ! strike alarum, 
drums ! 
Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women 

134. The trumpet sounds Ff | I hear his drum Qq. 

130. they ease the heart. Cf. Macbeth, IV, iii, 209-210. 
141. ow'd : owned, was rightful possessor of. Often so. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 131 

Rail on the Lord's anointed. Strike, I say ! 1 50 

Flourish. Alarum 
Either be patient, and entreat me fair, 
Or with the clamorous report of war 
Thus will I drown your exclamations. 

Duchess. Art thou my son ? 

King Richard. Ay, I thank God, my father, and yourself. 

Duchess. Then patiently hear my impatience. 156 

King Richard. Madam, I have a touch of your condition, 
That cannot brook the accent of reproof. 

Duchess. O, let me speak ! 

King Richard. Do then ; but I '11 not hear. 

Duchess. I will be mild and gentle in my words. 160 

King Richard. And brief, good mother, for I am in haste. 

Duchess. Art thou so hasty ? I have stay'd for thee, 
God knows, in torment and in agony. 

King Richard. And came I not at last to comfort you ? 

Duchess. No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well,- 165 
Thou cam'st on earth to make the earth my hell. 
A grievous burden was thy birth to me ; 
Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy ; 
Thy school-days frightful, desperate, wild, and furious ; 
Thy prime of manhood daring, bold, and venturous ; 170 
Thy age confirm 'd, proud, subtle, bloody, treacherous, 
More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred : 
What comfortable hour canst thou name, 
That ever grac'd me in thy company ? 

159, 172. Qq omit. 

157. condition : disposition, temper. Cf. As You Like It, I, ii, 276. 
168. Tetchy: peevish. Now corrupted to 'touchy.' See Skeat. 
173. comfortable : comforting, cheering. See Abbott, §§3, 445. 



132 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

King Richard. Faith, none, but Humphrey Hour, that 
call'd your grace 175 

To breakfast once forth of my company. 
If I be so disgracious in your eye, 
Let me march on, and not offend you, madam. 
Strike up the drum. 

Duchess. I prithee, hear me speak. 

King Richard. You speak too bitterly. 

Duchess. Hear me a word ; 180 

For I shall never speak to thee again. 

King Richard. So. 

Duchess. Either thou wilt die, by God's just ordinance, 
Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror, 
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish, 185 

And never look upon thy face again. 
Therefore take with thee my most heavy curse ; 

175. Hour I Houre Qq | Hower Ff. 179. Strike . . . drum Ff | Qq omit. 

175-176. Humphrey Hour . . . my company. No satisfactory ex- 
planation of the passage has yet been suggested. Malone's con- 
jecture is that the expression 'Humphrey Hour' was "used in 
ludicrous language for 'hour,' like 'Tom Troth' for 'truth.'" 
Steevens thinks that " Shakespeare might by this strange phrase, 
f Humphrey Hour,' have designed to mark the hour at which the 
good Duchess was as hungry as the followers of Duke Humphrey." 
A part of St. Paul's Cathedral was called Duke Humphrey's Walk, 
because Humphrey, sometime Duke of Gloucester, was supposed 
to be buried there. As the old Cathedral was a place of great resort, 
those who were hard up for a dinner used to saunter there, perhaps 
in the hope of being asked to dinner by some of their acquaint- 
ance. Hence came the phrase " dining with Duke Humphrey," 
used of those who "waited upon Providence" for a chance to eat. 
Cf. Nash, Wonderful Prognostication (1591): " Sundry fellowes . . . 
shall . . . keepe duke Humfrye company in Poules, because they 
know not where to get their dinners abroad." — forth of: out of, 
away from. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 133 

Which in the day of battle tire thee more 

Than all the complete armour that thou wear'st ! 

My prayers on the adverse party fight ; 190 

And there the little souls of Edward's children 

Whisper the spirits of thine enemies, 

And promise them success and victory. 

Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end ; 

Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend. Exit 195 

Queen Elizabeth. Though far more cause, yet much 
less spirit to curse 
Abides in me ; I say amen to her. [ Going] 

King Richard. Stay, madam ; I must speak a word 
with you. 

Queen Elizabeth. I have no more sons of the royal blood 
For thee to murder ; for my daughters, Richard, 200 

They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens, 
And therefore level not to hit their lives. 

King Richard. You have a daughter call'd Elizabeth, 
Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious. 

Queen Elizabeth. And must she die for this? O, let 
her live, 205 

And I '11 corrupt her manners, stain her beauty, 
Slander myself as false to Edward's bed, 
Throw over her the vale of infamy ! 
So she may live unscarr'd of bleeding slaughter, 
I will confess she was not Edward's daughter. 210 

King Richard. Wrong not her birth, she is of royal blood. 

199. more Q2 Ff | moe Qi. 200. murder Qq | slaughter Ff. 

211-217. A good example of stichomythia, the dialogue in alternate 
lines, with one speaker opposing or correcting the other. Cf. lines 
343-361. Such dialogue in Shakespeare is found only in the earlier 

plays. 



134 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Queen Elizabeth. To save her life, I '11 say she is not so. 
King Richard. Her life is safest only in her birth. 
Queen Elizabeth. And only in that safety died her 

brothers. 
King Richard. Lo, at their births good stars were 
opposite. 215 

Queen Elizabeth. No, to their lives bad friends were 

contrary. 
King Richard. All unavoided is the doom of destiny. 
Queen Elizabeth. True, when avoided grace makes 
destiny. 
My babes were destin'd to a fairer death, 
If grace had bless'd thee with a fairer life. 220 

King Richard. You speak as if that I had slain my 

cousins. 
Queen Elizabeth. Cousins, indeed ; and by their uncle 
cozen'd 
Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life. 
Whose hand soever lanc'd their tender hearts, 
Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction : 225 

No doubt the murderous knife was dull and blunt 
Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart, 
To revel in the entrails of my lambs. 
But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame, 
My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys 230 

221-234. Qq omit. 

215. opposite : at enmity. Cf. line 402, also II, ii, 94. 

217. unavoided : unavoidable. In Elizabethan English the endings 
1 -ed ' and ' -able ' are often used indiscriminately. 

225. indirectly : wrongfully, wickedly. A play on ' direction.' Cf. 
Hamlet, II, i, 66: " By indirections find directions out." 

229. still : continual. Cf. ' still lasting,' line 344. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 135 

Till that my nails were anchor'd in thine eyes ; 
And I, in such a desperate bay of death, 
Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft, 
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom. 

King Richard. Madam, so thrive I in my enterprise 235 
And dangerous success of bloody wars 
As I intend more good to you and yours 
Than ever you and yours by me were harm'd ! 

Queen Elizabeth. What good is cover'd with the face 
of heaven, 
To be discover'd, that can do me good ? 240 

King Richard. The advancement of your children, gentle 
lady. 

Queen Elizabeth. Up to some scaffold, there to lose 
their heads ? 

King Richard. No, to the dignity and height of honour, 
The high imperial type of this earth's glory. 

Queen Elizabeth. Flatter my sorrows with report of it ; 
Tell me what state, what dignity, what honour, 246 

Canst thou demise to any child of mine ? 

King Richard. Even all I have ; ay, and myself and all, 
Will I withal endow a child of thine ; 

So in the Lethe of thy angry soul 250 

Thou drown the sad remembrance of those wrongs 
Which thou supposest I have done to thee. 

Queen Elizabeth. Be brief, lest that the process of thy 
kindness 

238. harm'd Ff | wrong'd Qq. 

236. dangerous success : doubtful issue, hazardous result. 

244. The reference is to the crown, the emblem of royalty. 

247. demise : grant, bestow. Found nowhere else in Shakespeare. 



136 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Last longer telling than thy kindness' date. 

King Richard. Then know that from my soul I love 

thy daughter. 255 

Queen Elizabeth. My daughter's mother thinks it with 

her soul. 
King Richard. What do you think ? 
Queen Elizabeth. That thou dost love my daughter 
from thy soul. 
So from thy soul's love didst thou love her brothers ; 
And from my heart's love I do thank thee for it. 260 

King Richard. Be not so hasty to confound my meaning. 
I mean that with my soul I love thy daughter, 
And do intend to make her queen of England. 

Queen Elizabeth. Well, then, who dost thou mean 

shall be her king ? 
King Richard. Even he that makes her queen ; who 
else should be? 265 

Queen Elizabeth. What, thou ? 

King Richard. I, even I : what think you of it, madam ? 
Queen Elizabeth. How canst thou woo her ? 
King Richard. That would I learn of you, 

As one being best acquainted with her humour. 
Queen Elizabeth. And wilt thou learn of me ? 
King Richard. Madam, with all my heart. 270 

Queen Elizabeth. Send to her, by the man that slew 
her brothers, 
A pair of bleeding hearts ; thereon engrave 

258-260. from . . . from . . . from. The Queen is quibbling between 
the two senses of the word : ' out of,' as in the saying, " Speak the 
truth from the heart " ; and ' away from,' as in Hamlet, III, ii, 23-24 : 
" for any thing so overdone is from the purpose of playing." 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 1 37 

Edward and York ; then haply will she weep : 
Therefore present to her — as sometime Margaret 
Did to thy father, steep'd in Rutland's blood — 275 

A handkerchief, which, say to her, did drain 
The purple sap from her sweet brother's body 
And bid her dry her weeping eyes withal. 
If this inducement move her not to love, 
Send her a letter of thy noble deeds ; 280 

Tell her thou mad'st away her uncle Clarence, 
. Her uncle Rivers ; ay, and, for her sake, 
Madest quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne. 

King Richard. You mock me, madam ; this is not the way 
To win your daughter. 

Queen Elizabeth. There 's no other way ; 285 

Unless thou couldst put on some other shape, 
And not be Richard that hath done all this. 

King Richard. Say that I did all this for love of her ? 
Queen Elizabeth. Nay, then indeed she cannot choose 
but hate thee, 
Having bought love with such a bloody spoil. 290 

King Richard. Look, what is done cannot be now 
amended ; 
Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes, 
Which after-hours give leisure to repent. 
If I did take the kingdom from your sons, 
To make amends I '11 give it to your daughter. 295 

If I have kill'd the issue of your womb, 
To quicken your increase, I will beget 
Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter. 

276-277. which . . . body Ff | Qq omit. 289-342. Qq omit. 

292. shall deal unadvisedly : cannot help acting rashly. 



138 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

A grandam's name is little less in love 

Than is the doting title of a mother ; 300 

They are as children but one step below, 

Even of your mettle, of your very blood ; 

Of all one pain, save for a night of groans 

Endur'd of her, for whom you bid like sorrow. 

Your children were vexation to your youth ; 305 

But mine shall be a comfort to your age. 

The loss you have is but a son being king, 

And by that loss your daughter is made queen. 

I cannot make you what amends I would, 

Therefore accept such kindness as I can. 3 10 

Dorset your son, that with a fearful soul 

Leads discontented steps in foreign soil, 

This fair alliance quickly shall call home 

To high promotions and great dignity : 

The king that calls your beauteous daughter wife 315 

Familiarly shall call thy Dorset brother ; 

Again shall you be mother to a king, 

And all the ruins of distressful times 

Repair'd with double riches of content. 

What ! we have many goodly days to see : 320 

The liquid drops of tears that you have shed 

Shall come again, transform'd to orient pearl, 

Advantaging their loan with interest 

Of ten times double gain of happiness. 

Go, then, my mother, to thy daughter go ; 325 

Make bold her bashful years with your experience ; 

323. loan Theobald | love Ff. 324- Of ten times Theobald | Often- 

times Ff. 

304. bid : bore, endured. The past tense of ' bide.' 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 139 

Prepare her ears to hear a wooer's tale ; 

Put in her tender heart th' aspiring flame 

Of golden sovereignty ; acquaint the princess 

With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys : 330 

And, when this arm of mine hath chastised 

The petty rebel, dull-brain'd Buckingham, 

Bound with triumphant garlands will I come, 

And lead thy daughter to a conqueror's bed ; 

To whom I will retail my conquest won, 335 

And she shall be sole victress, Caesar's Caesar. 

Queen Elizabeth. What were I best to say ? her father's 
brother 
Would be her lord ? or shall I say her uncle ? 
Or he that slew her brothers and her uncles ? 
Under what title shall I woo for thee, 340 

That God, the law, my honour, and her love, 
Can make seem pleasing to her tender years ? 

King Richard. Infer fair England's peace by this alliance. 

Queen Elizabeth. Which she shall purchase with still 
lasting war. 

King Richard. Tell her the king, that may command, 
entreats. 345 

Queen Elizabeth. That at her hands which the king's 
King forbids. 

King Richard. Say she shall be a high and mighty queen. 

Queen Elizabeth. To wail the title, as her mother doth. 

King Richard. Say I will love her everlastingly. 

Queen Elizabeth. But how long shall that title ' ever ' last ? 

King Richard. Sweetly in force unto her fair life's end. 

343. Infer: bring in. See note, III, v, 74, and cf. Ill, vii, 12. 

344. still lasting : everlasting, endless. With ' still ' cf. line 229. 



140 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

Queen Elizabeth. But how long fairly shall her sweet 

life last? 352 

King Richard. As long as heaven and nature lengthens it. 
Queen Elizabeth. As long as hell and Richard likes of it. 
King Richard. Say, I, her sovereign, am her subject low. 
Queen Elizabeth. But she, your subject, loathes such 

sovereignty. 356 

King Richard. Be eloquent in my behalf to her. 
Queen Elizabeth. An honest tale speeds best being 

plainly told. 
King Richard. Then plainly to her tell my loving tale. 
Queen Elizabeth. Plain and not honest is too harsh a 

style. 360 

King Richard. Your reasons are too shallow and too quick. 
Queen Elizabeth. O, no, my reasons are too deep and 

dead; 
Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. 

King Richard. Harp not on that string, madam ; that 

is past. 
Queen Elizabeth. Harp on it still shall I till heart-strings 

break. 365 

King Richard. Now, by my George, my garter, and my 

crown, — 
Queen Elizabeth. Profaned, dishonour'd, and the third 

usurp'd. 
King Richard. I swear — 

355. low Ff I love Qq. 

361-362. quick . . . dead. Richard uses ' quick ' in the sense of 
' ready'; the queen takes it in that of ' alive.' 

366. The figure of St. George and the Dragon was not added to 
the insignia of the Garter until Henry VIII's reign. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 141 

Queen Elizabeth. By nothing ; for this is no oath. 

Thy George, profan'd, hath lost his holy honour ; 
Thy garter, blemish'd, pawn'd his knightly virtue ; 370 

Thy crown, usurp'd, disgrac'd his kingly glory. 
If something thou wouldst swear to be believ'd, 
Swear then by something that thou hast not wrong'd. 

King Richard. Now, by the world, — 

Queen Elizabeth. 'T is full of thy foul wrongs. 

King Richard. My father's death, — 

Queen Elizabeth. Thy life hath that dishonour'd. 375 

King Richard. Then, by myself, — 

Queen Elizabeth. Thyself thyself misusest. 

King Richard. Why then by God, — 

Queen Elizabeth. God's wrong is most of all. 

If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by Him, 
The unity the king thy brother made 

Had not been broken, nor my brother slain. 380 

If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by Him, 
Th' imperial metal, circling now thy head, 
Had grac'd the tender temples of my child ; 
And both the princes had been breathing here, 
Which now, two tender bedfellows for dust, 385 

Thy broken faith hath made a prey for worms. 
What canst thou swear by now ? 

King Richard. The time to come. 

Queen Elizabeth. That thou hast wronged in the time 
o'erpast ; 
For I myself have many tears to wash 
Hereafter time, for time past wrong'd by thee. 390 

The children live whose parents thou hast slaughter'd, 
Ungovern'd youth, to wail it with their age ; 



142 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

The parents live whose children thou hast butcher'd, 
Old barren plants, to wail it with their age. 
Swear not by time to come ; for that thou hast 395 

Misus'd ere us'd, by time misus'd o'erpast. 

King Richard. As I intend to prosper and repent, 
So thrive I in my dangerous affairs 
Of hostile arms ! myself myself confound ! 
Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours ! 400 

Day, yield me not thy light ; nor, night, thy rest ! 
Be opposite all planets of good luck 
To my proceeding ! if, with pure heart's love, 
Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts, 

I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter 1 405 

In her consists my happiness and thine ; 
Without her follows to myself and thee, 
Herself, the land, and many a Christian soul, 
Death, desolation, ruin, and decay : 

It cannot be avoided but by this ; 4 10 

It will not be avoided but by this. 
Therefore, dear mother — I must call you so — 
Be the attorney of my love to her. 
Plead what I will be, not what I have been ; 
Not my deserts, but what I will deserve : 415 

Urge the necessity and state of times, 
And be not peevish fond in great designs. 

Queen Elizabeth. Shall I be tempted of the devil thus ? 

396. o'erpast Qq I repast Ff. 412. dear Ff | good Qq. 

400, 429. Qq omit. 4i7- fond Qq | found Ff. 

402. opposite: at enmity. Cf. line 215, also II, ii, 94. 
405. tender : regard, hold dear. See note, I, i, 44. 
417. peevish fond, childishly foolish. Cf. I, iii, 195; IV, ii, 99. 
Both 'fond' and 'peevish' are used by Shakespeare for 'foolish.' 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 143 

King Richard. Ay, if the devil tempt thee to do good. 

Queen Elizabeth. Shall I forget myself to be myself? 

King Richard. Ay, if yourself's remembrance wrong 
yourself. 421 

Queen Elizabeth. But thou didst kill my children. 

King Richard. But in your daughter's womb I bury 
them : 
Where, in that nest of spicery, they shall breed 
Selves of themselves, to your recomforture. 425 

Queen Elizabeth. Shall I go win my daughter to thy will ? 

King Richard. And be a happy mother by the deed. 

Queen Elizabeth. I go. Write to me very shortly, 
And you shall understand from me her mind. 

King Richard. Bear her my true love's kiss ; and so, 
farewell. Exit Queen Elizabeth 430 

Relenting fool, and shallow changing woman ! 

Enter Ratcliff [Catesby following] 

How now ! what news ? 

Ratcliff. My gracious sovereign, on the western coast 
Rideth a puissant navy ; to the shore 

Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted friends, 435 

Unarm'd, and unresolv'd to beat them back. 
'T is thought that Richmond is their admiral ; 

425. recomforture : comfort. Found nowhere else in Shakespeare. 

426. go win. For the omission of ' to ' see Abbott, §§ 349. 
428-429. This representation is in substance historical ; and some 

of the old chroniclers are rather hard on Elizabeth for thus yielding 
to Richard's persuasions. But there is good reason to think that 
she outwitted him, and that her consent was but feigned to gain 
time, and to save her daughter from the fate that had overtaken 
her sons. 



144 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

And there they hull, expecting but the aid 
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore. 

King Richard. Some light-foot friend post to the Duke 
of Norfolk ; 44° 

Ratcliff, thyself, or Catesby ; where is he ? 
Catesby. Here, my good lord. 

King Richard. Fly to the duke. — [To Ratcliff] Post 
thou to Salisbury : 
When thou com'st thither, — [To Catesby] Dull, unmindful 

villain, 
Why stand'st thou still, and go'st not to the duke ? 445 

Catesby. First, mighty liege, tell me your highness' 
pleasure, 
What from your grace I shall deliver to him. 

King Richard. O, true, good Catesby. Bid him levy 

straight 

The greatest strength and power he can make, 

And meet me suddenly at Salisbury. 45° 

Catesby. I go. Exit 

Ratcliff. What, may it please you, shall I do at Salisbury ? 

King Richard. Why, what wouldst thou do there before 

I go? 
Ratcliff. Your highness told me I should post before. 

Enter Lord Stanley 

King Richard. My mind is chang'd. — Stanley, what 
news with you ? 455 

438. hull : float about with sails furled, ' lie to.' 

443. The text follows the Quartos. The Folios read : 

Rich. Catesby, flye to the Duke. 

Cat. I will, my Lord, with all convenient haste. 

Rich. Catesby come hither, poste to Salisbury : 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 145 

Stanley. None good, my liege, to please you with the 
hearing ; 
Nor none so bad, but may well be reported. 

King Richard. Heyday, a riddle ! neither good nor bad ! 
What need'st thou run so many miles about, 
When thou mayst tell thy tale the nearest way ? 460 

Once more, what news ? 

Stanley. Richmond is on the seas. 

King Richard. There let him sink, and be the seas on him, 
White-liver'd runagate ! what doth he there ? 

Stanley. I- know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess. 

King Richard. Well, as you guess ? 465 

Stanley. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Ely, 
He makes for England, here to claim the crown. 

King Richard. Is the chair empty ? is the sword 
unsway'd ? 
Is the king dead ? the empire unpossess'd ? 
What heir of York is there alive but we ? 470 

And who is England's king but great York's heir ? 
Then tell me what makes he upon the seas ? 

Stanley. Unless for that, my liege, I cannot guess. 

King Richard. Unless for that he comes to be your liege, 
You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes. 475 

Thou wilt revolt, and fly to him, I fear. 

Stanley. No, mighty liege ; therefore mistrust me not. 

463. White-liver'd runagate : cowardly vagabond. Cowards were 
commonly spoken of as having white livers. Shakespeare has ' lily- 
liver'd ' and ' milk-liver'd ' in the same sense. In V, iii, 325, Richard 
calls Richmond a ' milk-sop.' Richmond had in fact escaped the fate 
of the Lancastrian leaders by fleeing into France. 

475. the Welshman. A sneering reference to the fact that Rich- 
mond's father, Edmund Tudor, was Welsh. 



146 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

King Richard. Where is thy power then to beat him back ? 
Where be thy tenants and thy followers ? 
Are they not now upon the western shore, 480 

Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships ? 

Stanley. No, my good lord, my friends are in the north. 

King Richard. Cold friends to me! what do they in 
the north, 
When they should serve their sovereign in the west ? 

Stanley. They have not been commanded, mighty king. 
Pleaseth your majesty to give me leave, 486 

I '11 muster up my friends, and meet your grace 
Where and what time your majesty shall please. 

King Richard. Ay, ay, thou wouldst be gone to join 
with Richmond ; 
I will not trust you, sir. 

Stanley. Most mighty sovereign, 49° 

You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful. 
I never was nor never will be false. 

KingRichard. Go,then,and muster men. But leave behind 
Your son, George Stanley. Look your faith be firm, 
Or else his head's assurance is but frail. 495 

Stanley. So deal with him as I prove true to you. Exit 

Enter a Messenger 

Messenger. My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire, 
As I by friends am well advertised, 
Sir Edward Courtney and the haughty prelate 
Bishop of Exeter, his elder brother, 500 

With many moe confederates, are in arms. 

498. advertised : informed. The accent is on the second syllable. 
501. moe: more. Used regularly only in the plural. 



scene iv KING RICHARD THE THIRD 147 

Enter another Messenger 

2 Messenger. In Kent, my liege, the Guildfords are in 

arms; 
And every hour more competitors 
Flock to the rebels, and their power grows strong. 

Enter another Messenger 

3 Messenger. My lord, the army of great Buckingham — 
King Richard. Out on ye, owls ! nothing but songs of 

death ? He striketh him 506 

There, take thou that, till thou bring better news. 

3 Messenger. The news I have to tell your majesty 
Is, that by sudden floods and fall of waters 
Buckingham's army is dispers'd and scatter'd ; 5 10 

And he himself wand'red away alone, 
No man knows whither. 

King Richard. I cry thee mercy ; 

There is my purse to cure that blow of thine. 
Hath any well-advised friend proclaim'd 
Reward to him that brings the traitor in ? 5 : 5 

3 Messenger. Such proclamation hath been made, my 

lord. 

Enter another Messenger 

4 Messenger. Sir Thomas Lovel and Lord Marquess 

Dorset, 
' T is said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms. 
But this good comfort bring I to your highness, 

503. competitors : confederates (without any suggestion of rivalry). 

506. owls . . . death. The owl's note was considered ill-boding. 

Cf. Macbeth, II, ii, 3 : "It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal bellman." 



148 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act iv 

The Breton navy is dispers'd by tempest. 520 

Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat 

Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks 

If they were his assistants, yea or no ; 

Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham 

Upon his party : he, mistrusting them, 525 

Hois'd sail and made his course again for Britanny. 

King Richard. March on, march on, since we are up 
in arms ; 
If not to fight with foreign enemies, 
Yet to beat down these rebels here at home. 

Re-enter Catesby 

Catesby. My liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken : 530 
That is the best news : that the Earl of Richmond 
Is with a mighty power landed at Milford 
Is colder tidings, yet they must be told. 

King Richard. Away towards Salisbury! while we 
reason here, 
A royal battle might be won and lost. 535 

Some one take order Buckingham be brought 
To Salisbury ; the rest march on with me. Flourish. Exeunt 

525. Upon his party : to take part with him, to fight on his side. 

532. Milford. The Earl of Richmond embarked with about two 
thousand men at Harfleur, in Normandy, August 1, 1485, and landed 
at Milford Haven on the 7th. He directed his course to Wales, 
hoping the Welsh would receive him cordially as their countryman, 
he having been born at Pembroke, and his grandfather being Owen 
Tudor, who married Katharine of France, widow of Henry V and 
mother of Henry VI. 

534. reason: talk. As in I, iv, 157 ; II, hi, 39. 

536. take order : adopt measures, give directions. Cf. IV, ii, 52. 



scene v KING RICHARD THE THIRD 149 

Scene V. [A room in Lord Stanley's house\ 
Enter Stanley and Sir Christopher [Urswick] 

Stanley. Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me : 
That in the sty of this most bloody boar 
My son George Stanley is frank'd up in hold : 
If I revolt, off goes young George's head ; 
The fear of that holds off my present aid. 5 

So get thee gone ; commend me to thy lord. 
Withal say that the queen hath heartily consented 
He should espouse Elizabeth her daughter. 
But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now ? 

Christopher. At Pembroke, or at Ha'rford-West, in 
Wales. 10 

Stanley. What men of name resort to him ? 

Christopher. Sir Walter Herbert, a renowned soldier ; 
Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir William Stanley ; 
Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir James Blunt, 
And Rice ap Thomas, with a valiant crew, 15 

And many other of great name and worth : 
And towards London do they bend their power, 
If by the way they be not fought withal. 

Stanley. Return unto thy lord ; commend me to him. 
Tell him the queen hath heartily consented 20 

He shall espouse Elizabeth her daughter. 
These letters will resolve him of my mind. [ Giving letters] 
Farewell. Exeunt 

2. this most bloody Qq | the most deadly Ff. 6-8, 20-21. Qq omit. 

3. frank'd : confined as in a ' frank ' or ' sty.' Cf. I, iii, 315. 

10. Ha'rford-West : Haverford-West. Nearly north of Pembroke. 



ACT V 

Scene I. [Salisbury. An open place] 

Enter [the Sheriff, and\ Buckingham, with halberds, led to 
execution 

Buckingham. Will not King Richard let me speak with 
him? 

Sheriff. No, my good lord ; therefore be patient. 

Buckingham. Hastings, and Edward's children, Rivers, 
Grey, 
Holy King Henry, and thy fair son Edward, 
Vaughan, and all that have miscarried 5 

By underhand corrupted foul injustice, 
If that your moody discontented souls 
Do through the clouds behold this present hour, 
Even for revenge mock my destruction ! 
This is All-Souls' day, fellows, is it not ? 10 

Sheriff. It is, my lord. 

Buckingham. Why, then All-Souls' day is my body's 
doomsday. 
This is the day that, in King Edward's time, 
I wish'd might fall on me when I was found 
False to his children or his wife's allies ; 1 5 

12. All-Souls' day : November 2. According to the tradition of 
the Church, the souls of the dead enter this day into special com- 
munion with the living. 

150 



scene ii KING RICHARD THE THIRD 151 

This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall 

By the false faith of him I trusted most ; 

This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul 

Is the determin'd respite of my wrongs. 

That high All-seer that I dallied with 20 

Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head, 

And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest. 

Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men 

To turn their own points on their masters' bosoms ; 

Thus Margaret's curse falls heavy on my neck : 25 

1 When he,' quoth she, ' shall split thy heart with sorrow, 

Remember Margaret was a prophetess.' 

Come, sirs, convey me to the block of shame ; 

Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame. 

Exeunt 

Scene II. \The camp near TamzvortJi\ 

Enter Richmond, Oxford, Blunt, Herbert, and others, 
with drum and colours 

Richmond. Fellows in arms, and my most loving friends, 
Bruis'd underneath the yoke of tyranny, 

25. falls . . . neck Ff | is fallen upon my head Qq. 

19. determin'd . . . wrongs : appointed time to which the punish- 
ment of my wrong-doing has been deferred. 

1. Enter Richmond, Oxford. On his father's side the Earl of 
Richmond was grandson to Owen Tudor. His mother was Margaret, 
daughter and heir to John Beaufort, the first Duke of Somerset, and 
great-granddaughter to John of Ghent by Catharine Swynford ; on 
which account, after the death of Henry VI and his son, he was 
looked to by both friends and foes as the next male representative 
of the Lancastrian line. Many of the Yorkists accepted him because 



152 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Thus far into the bowels of the land 

Have we march'd on without impediment ; 

And here receive we from our father Stanley 5 

Lines of fair comfort and encouragement. 

The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar, 

That spoil'd your summer fields and fruitful vines, 

Swills your warm blood like wash, and makes his trough 

In your embowell'd bosoms, — this foul swine 10 

Lies now even in the centre of this isle, 

Near to the town of Leicester, as we learn ; 

From Tarn worth thither is but one day's march. 

In God's name, cheerly on, courageous friends, 

To reap the harvest of perpetual peace 15 

By this one bloody trial of sharp war. 

Oxford. Every man's conscience is a thousand swords, 
To fight against this guilty homicide. 

Herbert. I doubt not but his friends will turn to us. 

Blunt. He hath no friends but what are friends for fear, 
Which in his dearest need will shrink from him. 21 

Richmond. All for our vantage. Then, in God's name, 
march. 
True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings ; 
Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings. Exeunt 

17. swords Qq | men Ff. 18. guilty Qq | bloody Ff. 

of his having bound himself by solemn oath to marry the Princess 
Elizabeth, whom they of course considered the rightful heir to the 
crown after the death of her brothers. The Earl of Oxford was 
John de Vere, whose character, together with that of his son Arthur, 
is finely delineated in Scott's Anne of Geierstein. 

3. bowels of the land. Once a common metaphor. Cf . the expres- 
sion ' heart of the country.' 

21. dearest need : urgent extremity. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 153 

Scene III. [Boswortk field] 

Enter King Richard, in arms, with Norfolk, the Earl of 
Surrey, Ratcliff [and others] 

King Richard. Here pitch our tents, even here in 
Bosworth field. 
My Lord of Surrey, why look you so sad ? 

Surrey. My heart is ten times lighter than my looks. 

King Richard. My Lord of Norfolk, — 

Norfolk Here, most gracious liege. 

King Richard. Norfolk, we must have knocks ; ha ! 
must we not ? 5 

Norfolk. We must both give and take, my loving lord. 

King Richard. Up with my tent ! here will I lie 
to-night ; [Soldiers begin to set up his tent] 

But where to-morrow ? Well, all 's one for that. 
Who hath descried the number of the traitors ? 

Norfolk. Six or seven thousand is their utmost power. 10 

King Richard. Why, our battalion trebles that account ; 
Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength, 
Which they upon the adverse party want. 
Up with the tent ! Come, noble gentlemen, 
Let us survey the vantage of the ground. 15 

Call for some men of sound direction. 

11. battalion Qq | battalia Ff. 15. ground Ff | field Qq. 

11. trebles. Richmond's forces are said to have been only five 
thousand ; and Richard's army consisted of about twelve thousand. 
But Lord Stanley lay at a small distance with three thousand men, 
and Richard may be supposed to have reckoned on them as his 
friends, though the event proved otherwise. 

16. sound direction : capacity for directing military movements. 



I 



154 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Let 's lack no discipline, make no delay, 

For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day. [Exeunt] 

Enter [on the other side of the f eld] Richmond, Sir William 
Brandon, Oxford, Dorset [and others. Some of the 
Soldiers //ft// Richmond's tent] 

Richmond. The weary sun hath made a golden set, 
And by the bright track of his fiery car 20 

Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow. 
Sir William Brandon, you shall bear my standard. 
Give me some ink and paper in my tent ; 
I '11 draw the form and model of our battle, 
Limit each leader to his several charge, 25 

And part in just proportion our small power. 
My Lord of Oxford, you, Sir William Brandon, 
And you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me. 
The Earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment ; 
Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to him, 30 

And by the second hour in the morning 
Desire the earl to see me in my tent. 
Yet one thing more, good captain, do for me ; 
Where is Lord Stanley quarter'd, do you know ? 

Blunt. Unless I have mista'en his colours much, 35 

Which well I am assur'd I have not done, 

17. lack Ff I want Qq. 26. power Ff | strength Qq. 

21. token Ff | signal Qq. 27-28. Qq omit. 

23-26. The arrangement is that of the Folios. In the Quartos these 
lines are inserted between lines 44 and 45. 

25. Limit . . . charge : definitely assign each leader to his com- 
mand. Cf. 'limit,' III, iii, 7. So in Macbeth, II, iii, 57, 'limited 
service' means 'appointed duty.' 

29. keeps his regiment : remains with his command. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 155 

His regiment lies half a mile at least 
South from the mighty power of the king. 

Richmond. If without peril it be possible, 
Sweet Blunt, make some good means to speak with him, 40 
And give him from me this most needful note. 

Blunt. Upon my life, my lord, I '11 undertake it ; 
And so, God give you quiet rest to-night ! 

Richmond. Good night, good Captain Blunt. [Exit 
Blunt] Come, gentlemen, 
Let us consult upon to-morrow's business. 45 

In to my tent ; the air is raw and cold. 

They withdraw into the tent 

Enter, to his tent, King Richard, Norfolk, Ratcliff, 
Catesby [and others] 

King Richard. What is 't o'clock ? 

Catesby. It 's supper-time, my lord ; 

It 's nine o'clock. 

King Richard. I will not sup to-night. 
What, is my beaver easier than it was ? 
And all my armour laid into my tent ? 50 

Catesby. It is, my liege ; and all things are in readiness. 

King Richard. Good Norfolk, hie thee to thy charge ; 
Use careful watch, choose trusty sentinels. 

Norfolk. I go, my lord. 

King Richard. Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle 
Norfolk. 55 

46. air Oq I dew Ff. 

49. beaver : helmet. Cf. / Henry IV, IV, i, 104 : " with his beaver 
on." Properly the 'beaver ' (from Old French baviere, ' a child's bib ') 
was the lower part of the helmet face guard, the visor. Cf. Hamlet, 
I, ii, 230 : " He wore his beaver up." 



156 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Norfolk. I warrant you, my lord. Exit 

King Richard. Catesby ! 

Catesby. My lord ? 

King Richard. Send out a pursuivant at arms 

To Stanley's regiment ; bid him bring his power 
Before sunrising, lest his son George fall 60 

Into the blind cave of eternal night. [Exit Catesby] 

Fill me a bowl of wine. Give me a watch. 
Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow. 
Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy. 
Ratcliff ! 65 

Ratcliff. My lord ? 

King Richard. Saw'st thou the melancholy Lord 
Northumberland ? 

Ratcliff. Thomas the Earl of Surrey, and himself, 
Much about cock-shut time, from troop to troop 
Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers. 70 

King Richard. So, I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine ; 

62. watch. In calling for a ' watch ' Richard evidently does not 
mean a 'guard'; the order for the guard is given in line 76. The 
' watch ' called for is probably a ' watch-light,' which was a night- 
candle so marked as to indicate how long it had burned, and thus 
serve as a timepiece. 

64. staves : poles of lances. It was the custom to carry more than 
one into the field. • 

69. cock-shut time. A ' cock-shut,' according to Gifford, was a 
large net stretched across a glade, and so suspended upon poles as 
to be easily drawn together, and was employed to catch woodcocks. 
These nets were chiefly used in the twilight of the evening, when 
woodcocks " take wing to go and get water, flying generally low ; 
and when they find any thoroughfare, through a wood or range of 
trees, they venture through." The artificial glades made for them 
to pass through were called ' cock-roads.' Hence ' cock-shut time ' 
and ' cock-shut light ' were used to express the evening twilight. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 157 

I have not that alacrity of spirit, 

Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have. [Wine brought] 

Well, set it down. Is ink and paper ready ? 

Ratcliff. It is, my lord. 75 

King Richard. Bid my guard watch ; leave me. Ratcliff, 

About the mid of night come to my tent 

And help to arm me. Leave me, I say. 
Exeunt Ratcliff [and the other Attendants. Richard sleeps] 

Enter Stanley to Richmond in his tent. [Lords and 
others attending] 

Stanley. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm ! 

Richmond. All comfort that the dark night can afford 80 
Be to thy person, noble father-in-law ! 
Tell me, how fares our loving mother ? 

Stanley. I, by attorney, bless thee from thy mother, 
Who prays continually for Richmond's good ; 
So much for that. The silent hours steal on, 85 

And flaky darkness breaks within the east. 
In brief, for so the season bids us be, 
Prepare thy battle early in the morning, 
And put thy fortune to th' arbitrement 

Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war. 90 

I, as I may — that which I would I cannot — 
With best advantage will deceive the time, 
And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms ; 
But on thy side I may not be too forward, 
Lest, being seen, thy brother, tender George, 95 

82. loving Qq I noble Ff. 

90. mortal-staring war : war looking with deadly eye on its victims. 
So ' mortal ' is often used for that which ' kills,' not that which ' dies.' 



158 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Be executed in his father's sight. 

Farewell. The leisure and the fearful time 

Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love 

And ample interchange of sweet discourse, 

Which so-long-sunder'd friends should dwell upon. 100 

God give us leisure for these rites of love ! 

Once more, adieu. Be valiant, and speed well ! 

Richmond. Good lords, conduct him to his regiment. 
I '11 strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap, 
Lest leaden slumber peize me down to-morrow, 105 

When I should mount with wings of victory. 
Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen. 

Exeunt all but Richmond 
O Thou, whose captain I account myself, 
Look on my forces with a gracious eye ; 
Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath, no 

That they may crush down with a heavy fall 
Th' usurping helmets of our adversaries ! 
Make us thy ministers of chastisement, 
That we may praise thee in the victory ! 
To thee I do commend my watchful soul, 115 

Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes ; 
Sleeping and waking, O, defend me still ! Sleeps 

Enter the Ghost of Prince Edward, son to Henry 
the Sixth 

Ghost. [To Richard] Let me sit heavy on thy soul 
to-morrow ! 

104. thoughts Qq I noise Ff. 114. the Qq I thy Ff. 

97. leisure : the time at our disposal. Cf. line 238. 

105. peize : poise, weigh. Cf. The Merchant of Venice, III, ii, 22. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 159 

Think how thou stabb'dst me in my prime of youth 

At Tewksbury ; despair, therefore, and die! 120 

[To Richmond] Be cheerful, Richmond ; for the wronged 

souls 
Of butcher'd princes fight in thy behalf ; 
King Henry's issue, Richmond, comforts thee. 

Enter the Ghost of Henry the Sixth 

Ghost. [To Richard] When I was mortal, my anointed 
body 
By thee was punched full of deadly holes. 125 

Think on the Tower and me ; despair, and die ! 
Harry the Sixth bids thee despair and die ! 
[To Richmond] Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror ! 
Harry, that prophesied thou shouldst be king, 
Doth comfort thee in sleep ; live thou and flourish ! 130 

Enter the Ghost of Clarence 

Ghost. [To Richard] Let me sit heavy on thy soul 
to-morrow ! 
I, that was wash'd to death with fulsome wine, 
Poor Clarence, by thy guile betray'd to death ! 
To-morrow in the battle think on me, 

And fall thy edgeless sword ! despair, and die ! 135 

[To Richmond] Thou offspring of the house of Lancaster, 

125. deadly Qi | Ff omit. 130. in Ff I in thy Qq. 

132. wash'd . . . fulsome wine. ' Fulsome ' probably has reference 
to the qualities of Malmsey wine, which was peculiarly sweet and 
luscious, so much so as to cloy the appetite after a little drinking. 
Shakespeare has represented Clarence as having been killed before 
he was thrown into the butt of wine. 



160 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee ; 
Good angels guard thy battle ! live and flourish ! 

E?iter the Ghosts of Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan 

Ghost of Rivers. [To Richard] Let me sit heavy on 
thy soul to-morrow, 
Rivers, that died at Pomfret ! despair and die ! 140 

Ghost of Grey. [To Richard] Think upon Grey, and 

let thy soul despair ! 
Ghost of Vaughan. [To Richard] Think upon Vaughan, 
and, with guilty fear, 
Let fall thy lance ! despair, and die ! 

All. [To Richmond] Awake, and think our wrongs in 
Richard's bosom 
Will conquer him ! awake, and win the day ! 145 

Enter the Ghost of Hastings 

Ghost of Hastings. [To Richard] Bloody and guilty, 
guiltily awake, 
And in a bloody battle end thy days ! 
Think on Lord Hastings ! despair, and die ! 
[To Richmond] Quiet untroubl'd soul, awake, awake ! 
Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake ! 1 50 

Enter the Ghosts of the two young Princes 

Ghosts. [To Richard] Dream on thy cousins smother'd 
in the Tower ; 
Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard, 
And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death ! 
Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair and die ! 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 161 

[To Richmond] Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake 
in joy; i S5 

Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy 1 
Live, and beget a happy race of kings ! 
Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee nourish. 

Enter the Ghost of Lady Anne 

Ghost. [To Richard] Richard, thy wife, that wretched 
Anne thy wife, 
That never slept a quiet hour with thee, 160 

Now fills thy sleep with perturbations ; 
To-morrow in the battle think on me, 
And fall thy edgeless sword : despair, and die ! 
[To Richmond] Thou quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep ; 
Dream of success and happy victory ! 
Thy adversary's wife doth pray for thee. 166 

Enter the Ghost of Buckingham 

Ghost. [To Richard] The first was I that help'd thee 
to the crown ; 
The last was I that felt thy tyranny. 
O, in the battle think on Buckingham, 

And die in terror of thy guiltiness ! 170 

Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death : 
Fainting, despair ; despairing, yield thy breath ! 
[To Richmond] I died for hope ere I could lend thee aid ; 
But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismay'd ! 

173. hope . . . aid. Buckingham's hope of aiding Richmond in- 
duced him to take up arms: he lost his life in consequence, and 
therefore may be said to have died 'for' hope; hope being the 
' cause ' which led to that event. 



162 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

God and good angels fight on Richmond's side ! 175 

And Richard fall in height of all his pride ! 

[T/ie Ghosts vanish. King] Richard sta ?is out of 'his dream 
King Richard. Give me another horse ! bind up my 
wounds ! 

Have mercy, Jesu ! — Soft ! I did but dream. 

coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me ! 

The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. 180 

Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. 

What do I fear ? myself ? there 's none else by : 

Richard loves Richard ; that is, I am I. 

Is there a murderer here ? No ; — yes, lam: 

Then fly. What, from myself ? Great reason why, — 185 

Lest I revenge. What, myself upon myself ! 

Alack, I love myself. Wherefore ? for any good 

That I myself have done unto myself ? 

O, no ! alas, I rather hate myself 

For hateful deeds committed by myself ! 190 

1 am a villain ; yet I lie, I am not. 

Fool, of thyself speak well ; fool, do not flatter. 
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues, 
And every tongue brings in a several tale, 

176. In the series of speeches which end with this line Shake- 
speare has elaborated the simple narrative of Holinshed : " The fame 
went, that he had the same night a terrible dreame ; for it seemed 
to him, being asleepe, that he did see diverse images like terrible 
divels, which pulled and haled him, not suffering him to take anie 
quiet or rest. The which strange vision not so suddenlie strake his 
heart with feare, but it stuffed his head with many busie and dread- 
full imaginations. For incontinent after, his heart being almost 
damped, he prognosticated the doubtfull chance of the battle, not 
using the alacritie and mirth of mind and countenance as he was 
accustomed to doo." 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 163 

And every tale condemns me for a villain. 195 

Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree ; 

Murder, stern murder, in the direst degree ; 

All several sins, all us'd in each degree, 

Throng to the bar, crying all ' Guilty ! guilty ! ' 

I shall despair. There is no creature loves me ; 200 

And, if I die, no soul shall pity me. 

Nay, wherefore should they, since that I myself 

Find in myself no pity to myself ? 

Methought the souls of all that I had murder'd 

Came to my tent ; and every one did threat 205 

To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard. 

Enter Ratcliff 

Ratcli ff. My lord ! 

King Richard. 'Zounds ! who 's there ? 

Ratcliff. Ratcliff, my lord ; 'tis I. The early village cock 
Hath twice done salutation to the morn ; 210 

Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour. 

King Richard. O Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful 
dream ! 
What thinkest thou, will our friends prove all true ? 

Ratcliff. No doubt, my lord. 

King Richard. O Ratcliff, I fear, I fear ! 

Ratcliff. Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows. 

King Richard. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night 
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard 217 

196. Perjury, perjury Qq | Perjury Ff. 208. 'Zounds Qq | Ff omit. 

212-214. This speech of Richard and Ratcliff's reply are omitted 
in the Folios, making Ratcliff's words, line 215, unintelligible. 



164 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers 

Armed in proof and led by shallow Richmond. 

It is not yet near day. Come, go with me ; 220 

Under our tents I '11 play the eaves-dropper, 

To hear if any mean to shrink from me. Exeunt 

Enter the Lords to Richmond, sitting in his tent 

Lords. Good morrow, Richmond ! 

Richmond. [Waking] Cry mercy, lords and watchful 
gentlemen, 
That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here. 225 

Lords. How have you slept, my lord ? 

Richmond. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams 
That ever ent'red in a drowsy head, 
Have I since your departure had, my lords. 
Methought their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd, 230 
Came to my tent, and cried on victory. 
I promise you, my heart is very jocund 
In the remembrance of so fair, a dream. 
How far into the morning is it, lords ? 

Lords. Upon the stroke of four. 235 

Richmond. Why, then 't is time to arm and give direction. 

His oratwi to his Soldiers 

More than I have said, loving countrymen, 

The leisure and enforcement of the time 

Forbids to dwell upon : yet remember this, 

God and our good cause fight upon our side ; 240 

219. proof : armor that has been proved and tested. 
231. cried on : uttered the cry of. Cf. Hamlet, V, ii, 375. 
238. leisure. See note, line 97. — enforcement: constraint. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 165 

The prayers of holy saints and wronged souls, 

Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces. 

Richard except, those whom we fight against 

Had rather have us win than him they follow. 

For what is he they follow ? truly, gentlemen, 245 

A bloody tyrant and a homicide ; 

One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd ; 

One that made means to come by what he hath, 

And slaughter'd those that were the means to help him ; 

A base foul stone, made precious by the foil 250 

Of England's chair, where he is falsely set ; 

One that hath ever been God's enemy. 

Then, if you fight against God's enemy, 

God will, in justice, ward you as his soldiers. 

If you do sweat to put a tyrant down, 255 

You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain ; 

If you do fight against your country's foes, 

Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire ; 

If you do fight in safeguard of your wives, 

Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors ; 260 

If you do free your children from the sword, 

Your children's children quit it in your age. 

Then, in the name of God and all these rights, 

Advance your standards, draw your willing swords. 

For me, the ransom of my bold attempt 265 

Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face ; 

250-251. foil . . . set. The allusion is to the practice of setting 
gems of little worth, with a bright-colored foil under them. Cf. 
1 Henry IV, I, ii, 238 ; Richard II, I, iii, 266. — chair: throne. 

262. quit : requite. Cf. IV, iv, 20, and see note. 

264. Advance : raise. See note, I, ii, 40. 



1 66 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt 

The least of you shall share his part thereof. 

Sound drums and trumpets, boldly, cheerfully ; 269 

God and Saint George 1 Richmond and victory ! Exeunt 

Re-enter King Richard, Ratcliff, Catesby, Attendants, 
and Forces 

King Richard. What said Northumberland as touching 
Richmond ? 

Ratcliff. That he was never trained up in arms. 

King Richard. He said the truth ; and what said Surrey 
then ? 

Ratcliff. He smil'd, and said, 'The better for our 
purpose.' 274 

King Richard. He was in the right ; and so indeed it is. 

Clock strikes 
Tell the clock there. Give me a calendar. 
Who saw the sun to-day ? 

Ratcliff. Not I, my lord. 

King Richard. Then he disdains to shine ; for, by the book, 
He should have brav'd the east an hour ago ; 
A black day will it be to somebody. 280 

Ratcliff, — 

Ratcliff. My lord ? 

King Richard. The sun will not be seen to-day ; 

The sky doth frown and lour upon our army. 
I would these dewy tears were from the ground. 
Not shine to-day ! Why, what is that to me 285 

More than to Richmond ? for the self-same heaven 
That frowns on me looks sadly upon him. 

279. brav'd: made splendid, adorned. Cf. Sonnets, xn, 2. 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 167 

Enter Norfolk 

Norfolk. Arm, arm, my lord ; the foe vaunts in the field. 

King Richard. Come, bustle, bustle. Caparison my horse. 
Call up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power. 290 

I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain, 
And thus my battle shall be ordered : 
My foreward shall be drawn out all in length, 
Consisting equally of horse and foot ; 

Our archers shall be placed in the midst. 295 

John Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Earl of Surrey, 
Shall have the leading of this foot and horse. 
They thus directed, we will follow 
In the main battle ; whose puissance on either side 
Shall be well winged with our chiefest horse. 300 

This, and Saint George to boot ! What think'st thou, 
Norfolk ? 

Norfolk. A good direction, warlike sovereign. 
This found I on my tent this morning. 

He sheweth him a paper 

King Richard. [Reads] * Jockey of Norfolk, be not 
too bold, 
For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.' 305 

A thing devised by the enemy. 

304. too Capell I so Qq Ff. 

301. This, and Saint George to help us, into the bargain. 
304-305. So in Holinshed : "John duke of Norffoike was warned 
by diverse to refrain from the field, insomuch that the night before 
he should set forward toward the king, one wrote this rime upon 
his gate : 

Jocke of Norffoike, be not too bold, 

For Dickon thy maister is bought and sold." 



168 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge. 

Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls, 

Conscience is but a word that cowards use, 

Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe ; 310 

Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law. 

March on, join bravely, let us to 't pell-mell ; 

If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell. 

His oration to his Army 

What shall I say more than I have inferr'd ? 

Remember whom you are to cope withal, 315 

A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways, 

A scum of Bretons, and base lackey peasants, 

Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth 

To desperate ventures and assur'd destruction. 

You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest ; 320 

You having lands and bless'd with beauteous wives, 

They would restrain the one, distain the other. 

And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow, 

Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost ? 

319. ventures Capell | adventures Qq Ff. 

314. inferr'd : brought forward, alleged. As in III, v, 74. 

316. sort : crew, pack, set. Used contemptuously. Cf. 2 Henry VI, 
III, ii, 276-277 : " he was the lord ambassador Sent from a sort of 
tinkers to the king " ; A Midsummer Night's Dream, III, ii, 13, where 
Puck describes Bottom as ' the shallowest thickskin of that barren sort.' 

322. restrain : withhold from you. — distain : violate. 

324. at our mother's cost. This should be ' at our brother's cost.' 
Richmond was in fact held in a sort of honorable custody at the 
Duke of Bretagne's court, his means being supplied by Charles, 
Duke of Burgundy, who was Richard's brother-in-law. Hall gives 
the matter thus : " And to begyn with the earle of Richmond Cap- 
taine of this rebellion, he is a Welsh mylkesoppe, a man of small 



scene in KING RICHARD THE THIRD 169 

A milk-sop, one that never in his life 325 

Felt so much cold as over shoes in snow ? 

Let 's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again ; 

Lash hence these overweening rags of France, 

These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives ; 

Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit, 330 

For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd themselves. 

If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us, 

And not these bastard Bretons, whom our fathers 

Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd, 

And on record, left them the heirs of shame. 335 

Shall these enjoy our lands ? lie with our wives ? 

Ravish our daughters ? Drum afar off 

Hark 1 I hear their drum. 
Fight, gentlemen of England ! fight, bold yeomen ! 
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head ! 
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood ; 340 

Amaze the welkin with your broken staves ! 

Enter a Messenger 

What says Lord Stanley ? will he bring his power ? 
Messenger. My lord, he doth deny to come. 
King Richard. Off with his son George's head ! 

338. Fight Qq I Right Ff. — bold Qq | boldly Ff. 

courage, and of lesse experience in marcyall acts and feates of warr, 
brought up by my brothers meanes and myne like a captive in a 
close cage in the court of Frances duke of Britaine." Holinshed 
copied Hall's account, but in Holinshed's second edition ' moother's 
meanes' was misprinted for 'brothers meanes'; and hence Shake- 
speare's mistake. 

334. bobb'd : pommeled. Cf. Troilus and Cressida, II, i, j6. 

341. welkin . . . staves : skies with your shivered lances. 



170 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

Norfolk. My lord, the enemy is past the marsh ; 345 
After the battle let George Stanley die. 

King Richard. A thousand hearts are great within my 
bosom. 
Advance our standards, set upon our foes ! 
Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George, 
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons ! 350 

Upon them ! Victory sits on our helms. [Exeunt] 

Scene IV. [Another part of the field] 

Alarum: excursions. Enter [NorVolk and Forces f gating; 
to hint] Catesby 

Catesby. Rescue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue ! 
The king enacts more wonders than a man, 
Daring an opposite to every danger. 
His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, 
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death. 5 

Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost ! 

Alarums. Enter King Richard 

King Richard. A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a 
horse ! 

345. marsh. " Betweene both armies there was a great marish, 
which the earle of Richmond left on his right hand ; for this intent, 
that it should be on that side a defense for his part, and in so dooing 
he had the sunne at his backe, and in the faces of his enimies. 
When king Richard saw the earles companie was passed the marish, 
he did command with all hast to set upon them." — Holinshed. 

3. Daring . . . danger. Either (1) offering himself as an opponent in 
every danger, or (2) challenging every dangerous antagonist to fight 
with him. For ' opposite,' meaning ' opponent,' cf. Hamlet, V, ii, 62. 



scene v KING RICHARD THE THIRD 171 

Catesby. Withdraw, my lord ; I '11 help you to a horse. 

King Richard. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast, 
And I will stand the hazard of the die. 10 

I think there be six Richmonds in the field ; 
Five have I slain to-day instead of him. 
A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse ! \Exeunt\ 



Scene V. \Another part of the field} 

Alarum. Enter Richard and Richmond; they fight; 
Richard is slain. Retreat and flourish. Re-enter Rich- 
mond, with Stanley bearing the crown, and divers other 
Lords [and Forces] 

Richmond. God and your arms be praised, victorious 
friends ; 
The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead. 

Stanley. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee. 
Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty 

4. this . . . royalty Qi I these . . . Royalties Ff. 

9-13. Richard, according to Hall and Holinshed, was deter- 
mined if possible to engage with Richmond in single combat. For 
this purpose he rode furiously to that quarter of the field where 
the earl was ; attacked his standard bearer, Sir William Brandon, 
and killed him ; then assaulted Sir John Cheney, whom he over- 
threw. Having thus at length cleared his way to his antagonist, he 
engaged in single combat with him, and probably would have been 
victorious, but that at that instant Sir William Stanley with three 
thousand men joined Richmond's army, and the royal forces fled 
with great precipitation. Richard was soon afterwards overpowered 
by numbers, and fell, fighting bravely to the last. 

11-12. Cf. / Henry IV, V, iv, 25-28. 

3. acquit: acquitted. Cf. 'convict,' I, iv, 184, and see note. 



172 THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE act v 

From the dead temples of this bloody wretch 5 

Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal ; 
Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it. 

Richmond. Great God of heaven, say amen to all ! 
But, tell me now, is young George Stanley living ? 

Stanley. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town ; 10 
Whither, if 't please you, we may now withdraw us. 

Richmond. What men of name are slain on either side ? 

Stanley. John Duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferrers, 
Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Brandon. 

Richmond. Inter their bodies as becomes their births : 1 5 
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled 
That in submission will return to us ; 
And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament, 
We will unite the white rose and the red. 
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction, 20 

That long have frown'd upon their enmity ! 
What traitor hears me, and says not amen ? 
England hath long been mad and scarr'd herself ; 
The brother blindly shed the brother's blood, 
The father rashly slaughter 'd his own son, 25 

The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire. 
All this divided York and Lancaster, 
Divided in their dire division, 

0, now let Richmond and Elizabeth, 

7. enjoy it Qq | Ff omit. zx. if . . . now Qq I if you please 

we may Ff. 

19. the white rose and the red. The story of the choice of these 
symbols is told in 1 Henry VI, II, iv. 

20-21. heaven . . . have. For ' heaven ' as a plural, see note, 

1, iii, 220. 



scene v KING RICHARD THE THIRD 173 

The true succeeders of each royal house, 30 

By God's fair ordinance conjoin together ! 

And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so, 

Enrich the time to come with smooth-fac'd peace, 

With smiling plenty, and fair prosperous days ! 

Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord, 35 

That would reduce these bloody days again, 

And make poor England weep in streams of blood ! 

Let them not live to taste this land's increase 

That would with treason wound this fair land's peace ! 

Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again ; 40 

That she may long live here, God say amen ! Exeunt 

35. Abate : make dull. The word means literally ' beat down ' 
(French abattre). Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, I, i, 6 : "That honour 
which shall bate his scythe's keen edge." 

36. reduce : bring back. See note, II, ii, 68. Cf. Henry V, V, ii, 63- 
64 : " Which to reduce into our former favour You are assembled." 



INDEX 



This Index includes the most important words, phrases, etc. explained in 
the notes. The figures in heavy-faced type refer to the pages ; those in plain 
type, to the lines containing what is explained. 



a dying debt : 124 21 
abate : 173 35 
abjects: 8 106 
acquit : 171 3 
acquittance : 107 233 
Act I, Scene 1 : 3 
Act IV, Scene IV : 123 
advance: 13 40; 165264 
advertised : 146 498 
aerie : 35 265 
after-supper : 121 31 
aged night : 124 16 
airy . . . miseries : 129 

127-128 
all the world to noth- 
ing : 21 237 
All-Souls' day : 150 12 
ancient : 125 35 
and . . . need : 105 166 
Anne, Duchess of 
Gloucester : 109 l 
ape . . . shoulders : 76 

130-131 
apparent: 63 130; 93 29 
as I had seen : 94 62 
at our mother's cost : 

168 324 
atonement : 25 36 
attainder of suspect : 

98 31 
attend : 21 226 
aweless : 68 52 
barbed : 3 10 
basilisks : 17 150 



battle : 29 130 
Baynard's Castle: 96 

97 
beaver : 155 49 
beholding : 56 128 
being well advis'd : 37 

319 
belike : 5 49 
betide : 69 71 
bett'ring . . . worse: 

129 121 
bid : 138 304 
Bishop of Ely : 86 1 
bishops : 96 99 
boar : 81 33 
bobb'd : 169 334 
bond of life : 127 77 
boot : 127 65 
bottled spider : 34 243 
Bourchier: 70 l 
bowels of the land : 

152 3 
brats of Clarence : 

96 106 
brav'd : 166 279 
Brecknock : 120 124 
Breton : 122 40 
broken rancour, etc. : 

62 117-119 
bulk : 40 40 
Burgundy : 39 10 
cacodemon : 29 144 
Caesar : 74 86 
carnal : 126 56 

i75 



censures : 63 144 
ceremonious : 72 45 
chamber : 70 l 
characters : 73 81 
citizen : 95 75 
Clarence : 50 277 
cockatrice : 111 54 
cock-shut time : 156 69 
cog : 25 48 
comfortable : 131 173 
competitors : 147 503 
conceit : 88 49 
concluded : 23 15 
condition : 131 157 
conduct : 5 45 
conversation : 93 30 
convict : 46 184 
costard : 45 151 
counsel . . . shield : 

123 56 
Countess Richmond : 

24 20 
cousins : 57 8 
cried on : 164 231 
cross : 76 126 
cross-row : 6 55 
cry you mercy : 61 104 
cue : 87 26 
curst : 13 49 
dangerous success : 

135 236 
daring . . . danger : 

170 3 
daughter : 10 153 



176 



THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



daughter . . . marriage : 

122 37 
dearest need : 152 21 
decline : 128 97 
defend : 101 81 
defus'd : 14 78 
demise : 135 247 
denier : 22 251 
deputy in France : 98 6 
Derby : 23 17 
descant : 100 49 
determin'd : 23 15 
determin'd . . . wrongs: 

151 19 
dissemble : 4 19 ; 58.31 
distain : 168 322 
divided : 78 179 
Duchess of York : 57 1 
effect : 16 120 
eighty odd years : 114 

95 
elvish-mark'd : 33 229 
embracements : 52 30 
enforced : 92 9 
enforcement : 164 238 
engross : 101 76 
engross'd : 97 2 
entertain: 4 29; 22 256 
envious : 24 26 ; 40 37 
envy : 114 99 
estate : 62 127 
every Jack ... a Jack: 

26 72-73 
evil diet : 9 139 
exercise : 84 109 
exhales : 14 58 
expedient duty: 20 216 
expiate : 86 23 
eyes drop millstones : 

38 354 
factor : 127 72 
fear : 9 137 
fearful commenting . . . 

dull delay: 123 51-52 
feature : 4 19 
fet : 62 121 



fire-new : 34 257 

five have I slain : 171 

11-12 
fleeting : 41 55 
flesh'd : 120 6 
foil'. . . set: 165 250-251 
fond : 80 26 
foot-cloth : 90 84 
for : 6 58 ; 61 95 
forth of: 132 176 
frank'd: 37 315; 149 3 
from . . . from . . . 

from : 136 258-260 
frown on the upper 

hand: 125 37 
galled eyes : 126 53 
garish flag, etc. : 128 

89-90 
George . . . garter: 140 

366 
gnaws his lip : 115 27 
go win : 143 426 
God he : 108 235 
golden : 113 83 
good cousin : 108 247 
good my lord : 106 195 
gossips : 7 83 
govern'd . . . moon : 60 

69 
graft : 103 127 
gramercy : 84 105 
gratulate : 109 10 
ground : 100 49 
Ha'rford-West : 149 10 
Hastings : 91 107 
have : 94 54 
heap : 53 53 
heard : 94 55 
heaven . . . have : 172 

20-21 
helpless : 11 13 
high imperial . . . 

glory : 135 244 
him : 44 145 
hog : 33 229 
holp : 16 107 



holy : 11 5 

hope ... aid : 161 173 

hour : 113 82 

hull : 144 438 

Humphrey Hour . . . 

my company : 132 

175-176 
I moralize . . . one 

word : 74 83 
I wis : 27 102 
idea : 98 13 
images : 59 50 
impatience : 59 38 
in : 22 260 
in thought : 97 14 
incapable : 58 18 
incensed : 77 152 
index : 63 149 
indirectly : 134 225 
induction : 4 32 ; 123 5 
infer: 95 74; 98 12; 

139 343 
inferr'd : 168 314 
intelligencer : 127 71 
intend : 92 8 ; 100 45 
inward with : 86 8 
Jack: 119 116 
Jacks : 25 53 ; 26 72-73 
jet upon : 68 51-52 
Jockey . . . sold : 167 

304-305 
Jove's Mercury : 123 

55 
jumpeth : 71 11 
Keeper : 39 l 
keeps his regiment : 

154 29 
key-cold : 11 5 
Lady Grey : 6 64 
Lady Lucy : 98 5 
late : 75 99 
lawful : 125 29 
leads : 100 55 
leisure: 158 97; 164 

238 
lewd : 26 61 



INDEX 



177 



lid : 138 303 

lie : 8 115 

lightly : 75 94 

like devotion as : 109 9 

likes : 88 49 

limit . . . charge : 154 

25 
mak'st : 30 164 
malmsey-butt : 49 268 
manner person : 96 107 
marsh : 170 345 
marvellous proper : 22 

254 
meanly : 122 37 
measures : 3 8 
mere enforcement: 107 

233 
mew'd up : 5 38 
Milford : 148 532 
Mistress Shore : 6 73 
moe : 146 501 
mortal-staring war : 

157 90 
Morton : 122 46 
muse : 36 306 
mutual heavy load : 

62 113 
my charity . . . shame: 

35 278 
naught : 8 99 
nice : 105 175 
niece : 109 1 
O . . . flatterer : 49 262 
obsequiously lament : 

113 
offices : 92 10 
opposite: 61 94; 134 

215; 142 402 
ow'd : 130 141 
owls . . . death : 147 

506 
parlous : 67 35 
part : 51 5 
Paul's : 97 3 
peevish fond : 142 417 
peize : 158 105 



pew-fellow : 126 58 
pill'd : 30 159 
piping time : 4 24 
play the touch : 115 8 
prayer : 102 98 
precedent : 97 7 
prevented : 94 54 
prodigious : 12 22 
proof: 164 219 
proportion : 4 18 
prove a needless cow- 
ard : 83 87 
pursuivant : 83 94 
quest : 46 181 
quick : 14 65 ; 23 5 
quick . . . dead : 140 

361-362 
quicken : 129 123 
quit : 124 20 ; 165 262 
ragged : 114 101 
Ratcliff : 90 78 
razed: 80 11 
reason: 45 157; 148 534 
reasons : 76 132 
recomforture : 143 425 
recure : 103 130 
red-hot steel . . . brain: 

112 60 
reduce : 60 68 ; 173 36 
remorse : 106 211 
remorseful : 18 155 
resolve : 115 26 
respects : 105 175 
restrain : 168 322 
retail'd : 73 77 
reverend : 125 35 
Richmond : 151 l 
right for right: 124 
15 

rood : 82 75 
rotten armour : 91 1 
say ... not : 15 89 
scathe : 37 318 
scene : 59 38 
scorns : 31 177 
scrivener : 97 l 



secret close intent : 10 

158 
seniory : 125 36 
sennet : 77 150 
several : 82 76 
shall deal unadvisedly : 

137 292 
sharp-provided : 76 132 
Shaw . . . Penker : 96 

102-103 
should'red in : 103 128 
shriving work : 84 113 
sights : 110 24 
Sir : 84 108 
smooth : 25 48 
smoothing : 18 168 
solace : 65 30 
sort: 63 148; 65 36; 

168 316 
sound direction : 153 16 
stands me . . . upon : 

117 58 
Stanley : 23 17 ; 55 94 
statues : 99 25 
staves : 156 64 
stichomythia: 133 211- 

2] 7 
still : 134 229 
still lasting : 139 344 
strawberries : 87 29-33 
stumble : 90 84 
sun : 3 2 
suspects : 27 89 
take order : 148 536 
teen : 114 96 
teeth : 126 49 
tempers : 6 65 
tender : 69 72 ; 142 405 
tend'ring : 5 44 
tetchy: 131 168 
Tewksbury : 21 241 
the boy is foolish : 117 

55 
the forfeit : 55 98 
the formal vice : 74 



i;8 



THE NEW HUDSON SHAKESPEARE 



the seal I keep : 69 71- 

73 
the Welshman: 145 475 
the white rose and the 

red : 172 19 
their : 127 72 
their guilt : 15 98 
them : 33 220 
then . . . wing : 123 54 
they ease the heart : 

130 130 
this ... to boot : 167 

301 
thy office : 110 25 
timeless : 16 117 
timorous : 113 84 
to hear : 18 157 
touches ... lie : 8 112- 

115 
toys : 6 60 
traditional : 72 45 
trebles : 153 11 
tut . . . tragedian : 91 

5-7 



una voided : 134 217 
unfelt imaginations : 

42 80 
unhappiness : 12 25 
unmanner'd : 13 39 
unmeritable : 104 155 
unrespective : 116 29 
untainted : 97 9 
unvalu'd : 40 27 
upon his party : 148 

525 
upon the bridge : 82 70 
vast : 40 39 
vizard : 58 28 
waked . . . dreams : 

113 84 
wandering air : 40 39 
wanting instance : 80 

25 
wants but nomination : 

86 5 
warn : 25 39 
wash'd . . . fulsome 

wine : 159 132 



watch : 156 62 
wayward : 24 29 
wear their hats : 83 92 
weigh . . . age: 72 

46 
weigh it lightly : 76 

121 
welkin . . . staves : 

169 341 
white-liver'd runagate: 

145 463 
widow : 7 81 
will still be : 76 126 
windy attorneys : 129 

126 
withal : 100 57 
witty : 116 42 
woe . . . child : 64 11 
Woodeville : 6 67 
wounds . . . bleed : 13 

55-56 
'zounds : 44 125 
'zounds ! I '11 entreat : 

107 219 



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